


In a world of Grey

by Ironichydra



Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Crewmate Turned Impostor (Among Us), F/M, I'm Bad At Everything, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Bad At Titles, MIRA is greedy, My First AO3 Post, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags Contain Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 30,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29039853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ironichydra/pseuds/Ironichydra
Summary: Green was a pretty normal crewmate, just doing his job. That was, until he discovers that this ship has some very strange cargo...Will be updated daily. (That means a new chapter will be posted each day until all of the chapters have been posted.)
Relationships: Crewmate/Crewmate (Among Us), Crewmate/Impostor (Among Us), Green/White (Among Us)
Comments: 69
Kudos: 101





	1. Chapter one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3 months ago: Oh, wow, there's so many amazing among us stories. I should make one too! I could make the first few chapters in a week or something like that, and then I could just make one chapter every few days, until it's finally done! Great idea, Ironichydra!  
> 3 days later: Wow, this sure is harder than it looks! Well, probably not gonna take more than one month. Besides, I could post the chapters as I make them.  
> 3 months later: Finally done ... wait, why is it 2021?

Most people who joined the Skeld ships these days were people who had always dreamed of going into space. Some did it in the hopes of returning a hero, the sudden emergence of the impostor threat causing some people to join MIRA crews just for a chance of glory. And then there were those like Green, who just needed a job. Besides, the salary was high. In an effort to get qualified people for the more important jobs aboard the ships, MIRA had increased the payment to those who worked on their ships. Of course, that required them to return back from their mission alive.

So now Green was on a Skeld-class cargo ship, traveling through space with 11 other persons, none of which he knew. He had been assigned the communications room, where he usually spent most of his time. His job was simple: make sure all of the computers were working, so the rest of the crew could work. It was a lonely job and he rarely saw any of the other crewmates, except during lunch and dinner where the whole crew would gather in the cafeteria and eat their food rations, which consisted of bland mashed-together stuff: healthy, but definitely not tasty.

So far they had been lucky. No sabotages had occurred. No bodies had been found. No crewmates had disappeared. This had, however, led to some unusual problems for Green: not only was it very boring for Green, as the only reason why a communications officer was needed was because of the usually frequent sabotages by impostors, many of the crewmates had also begun defying MIRA’s no-relationship-protocol. If any impostors had been on this ship, Green would be spending all of his time fixing computer systems and connecting wires, but this time around, none of that was needed. Instead, Green would use all of his waking hours staring into a blank computer screen, ignoring any crewmates attempts at starting a conversation with him.

Suddenly steps could be heard outside of the room. Green turned around and looked towards the door. He could hear the steps approaching, coming closer at a rapid pace. He realized it was his own fault, _all that time he had spent trying to distance himself for the crew, if he had just …_

The door opened and White entered.

“Hey, do you mind if i come in?” White asked, sounding happy as always.

“...n-no, of course not” Green said, wishing he had been able to say no. Or rather, yes, in this case. For some reason, he just couldn't say it. For some reason he didn't want to disappoint her. Didn't want to say that he didn’t want her in his room. If he had just been able to tell her he didn’t want her company. It just seemed so … cruel - he knew that White really liked hanging out with him...

“I just wanted to drop these off,” she said, a smile on her face.

Did she have to look so happy? As Green looked towards what White had in her hand, he noticed it was a bag of food, a single ration to be exact.

“Figured you might want this. You’ve seemed so busy these past few days, always having work to do.” White dropped the bag at Green’s desk. “I hope you’re soon done with all of it, I miss your company during lunch. The table seems so empty without you.” she continued, a hint of sadness in her voice.

During the past few days Green had just grabbed his lunch and gone back into communications. Green really didn’t enjoy the prospect of having to eat in a room with 11 other persons, so going back into this secluded room of his had seemed like the best solution, however hearing White talk about missing him made him feel selfish…

“Well, time to go, don’t wanna disturb you while you’re doing your work.” she continued with a grin on her face.

“uh, yeah … um - thanks, White” Green said with an awkward smile as White left the room.

He almost felt ashamed of lying to her. He didn’t even have any work he needed to do, just a lie to make White stop pestering him, an excuse for leaving the cafeteria early during lunch. Needless to say, his strategy of ignoring the rest of the crew hadn’t worked out exactly how he wanted it to.  
He turned back to the big computer. Nothing was out of order, everything was running perfectly fine.

Green sighed and took the bag of food from his desk. No matter how bland it tasted, he would have to eat something. At least he wouldn't have to go to the cafeteria today thanks to White. He had to admit, even though he tried to convince himself otherwise, it was in fact nice that White liked and cared about him…

It had been a few boring hours until it was finally time for the crewmates to stop working and get the rest they needed. Green was walking down the dark hallway in the direction of the sleeping quarters, like always, the days always the same.  
Suddenly a hand was upon his shoulder, janking him backwards, causing Green to almost stumble

“Hey, why didn’t you come to the cafeteria during lunch?” Reds' voice sounded angry, but also concerned at the same time.

Green regained balance and turned around to face his captain. “I was busy, had a lot to do” he said while looking at the captain sheepishly. Red gave him a long stare, then spoke “Green, we both know that’s a lie...” he was looking more concerned than angry now, and continued talking, now so close to Green that he was involuntarily moving away.

“You shouldn’t stay away, we were all afraid something bad had happened!”

“but captain, there has been no -” Green was cut off by Red, who continued his speech “Next time, don't just stay in communications. I don’t care if you don’t like it, i don’t want any more of this to happen again, understood?”

Green sighed. The way Red acted, you would think that there was an impostor on board. “It won’t happen again, captain”. Red looked at him intently for a few seconds, then walked away in the opposite direction. Green shivered slightly, something the captain always made him do whenever he was scolded by him, which had happened more times than Green wanted to admit.

As Green reached his room, he opened the door and entered the small enclosure. Calling it a room was an exaggeration: It was just big enough to fit a bed and not much else. He quickly unstripped his suit and helmet. MIRA regulations required crew to wear them at all times, except during sleep and lunch. In case of an oxygen failure they had said during training. Needless to say, Green appreciated the feeling of a soft bed where he could lay down and drift into sleep. It almost made this job worth it, being able to lie down in a soft bed after an uneventful day.  
As he let himself relax on the comfy furniture, he couldn’t quite get the rest he wanted. Thoughts about what had happened seemed to be stuck in his mind. Why was Red so mad at him? Surely White had said he had stayed in communications, right? It was probably just Red overreacting. Green knew only Red had been afraid something had happened: it wasn’t like anyone cared about what happened to him, maybe except White. At least Red hadn’t followed him to his room.

Wait! Why hadn’t Red followed him? Why had he gone the other direction? The captains room was in the same section as his. This was the captain who had scolded him for not showing up at lunch, the one person on this ship who still tried to follow MIRA protocols. But why? He had nothing to do at this time of the simulated day, or rather, night. He had absolutely no reason to not go to his room straight-away. Green knew he should probably just forget about it and get a good night’s sleep, but the thought kept nagging him. He couldn’t get it out of his head, no matter how hard he tried.

Green quickly put on his suit and helmet. He knew he had to find out, otherwise he would spend the whole night thinking about it.  
Green opened the door, went out into the hallway and slipped past Medbay, trying not to make any noise as he walked into Cafeteria.  
Fortunately the lights were still on, albeit a little dim. It was called ‘simulated night’, something MIRA had introduced to both, obviously, simulate night-time, but also to save power. Save money, some would say.

He rounded the corner and went into admin, casting a few quick glances around the room. Unfortunately, Red wasn’t here. Green was about to leave, as he heard the sound of a door opening. Looking out the room, he saw a flash of Red, as the captain went into the cafeteria. It didn’t seem like he had seen Green, since he didn’t come back and reprimand him for not being in his room at this time of night. Behind Red, Green could see an opening in the wall revealed a poorly lit room, and in just the blink of an eye, it was gone. Green was astonished: Red had just been in a room unknown to the rest of the crew! Red had gone towards the cafeteria, so whatever he had been doing, he was done with it now. Green waited in Admin until he was sure Red had gone back to his room, then slowly went over to where the opening had been just a few moments ago. As expected, there was not a trace of the door, except the faint outline of it, which Green hadn’t noticed until now. Why would he? It was just a wall - or so had he assumed.

He should probably just go back to his bed, go to sleep and forget about all this. This was none of his business. Besides, Red was the captain after all, so he would have his reasons for not sharing this knowledge with the crew.

And yet … it made him curious - Red, the captain who wanted everything to go according to MIRA protocols …  
Green continued to look at the indistinct outline of the entrance for a time. Whatever was going on, it probably would be better to just go back to bed and forget about it for now. He would probably be better at handling this situation after getting some rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've already written the whole story, so I'll be posting one chapter each day. But please, point out any mistakes or make suggestions or whatever that's supposed to be in those comments.


	2. Chapter two

The bright lights of simulated day almost blinded Green as he opened his eyes. He slowly sat up on his bed and looked at the clock. It was aligned to the ship’s simulated day-night cycle. It was already time for the crew to start working. Green rubbed his eyes and tried to put on his suit. Why was it this late? He usually woke up way earlier than this, and yet he was still tired.

Was it really this late? Green looked at the clock again. Yes, it clearly said it was morning, and he was already late. He slowly took his suit on, and stood up from his bed. Maybe he had gone to bed later than he usually did … Thinking about it, he had actually been up a bit later than usual - Yes, he clearly remembered it now: Going out of his room after simulated night and seeing Red leave the secret room. He quickly put on his helmet and opened the door, every bit of tiredness gone from his body.

As he got out on the hallway, Green could see that everyone else was on their way to the cafeteria for their daily breakfast ration bar. Breakfast only consisted of grabbing a small ration bar, which left little time to interact with the other crew members as they went to their designated rooms. Green quickly walked towards the vending machine and took his meal, ignoring the other crewmates as they waved their hands at each other while saying “good morning” and “have a great day”.

Normally Green was in no hurry, as daily work usually consisted of staring at a blank computer screen, however, the events of the previous night had burned themselves into Green’s mind. He almost knocked Black, the ship’s medic, over in his attempt at hastily leaving the vending machine and cursed himself for forgetting to act normal: Red would know something was off if Green was suddenly excited for his non-existent daily tasks.  He quickly took out his tablet and looked at it. As usual, nothing was required of him, the crew size inflated because of the impostor risk.

As Green reached communications, he entered the room and shut the door behind him. As fast as he could, he turned on the main computer and opened the blueprint file for the ship. As expected, it did not include the room Red had been in.  He searched through the mission description, all the logs and everything he could find, but all of it said this was just a normal cargo transport mission - nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing that could explain why this ship had a room that no other cargo ships of this type had. What could be so important that the crew wasn’t allowed to know? Thinking about it certainly didn’t help. Even if he was right, he would never get a confirmation. It wasn’t like he could ask Red.   
No, thinking about it didn’t help, and the only thing Green could think of was what could be in that room. Guessing certainly didn’t help either, and the only way to find out without letting Red know that he knew would be to see it for himself. But how?

Hours had passed, and even trying his best, Green had not found a solution. No matter what he did, there was no way he would be able to open the door from the computer. Maybe he should just forget about it? No. He had to do it. It wasn’t just because Green was curious, but this was also the first time since the start of the mission that Green wasn’t staring into a blank computer screen wishing for something, anything, to happen.

A knock on the door made Green spin around, heart beginning to beat faster. What if Red knew what he was planning to do? No, he couldn’t know, Green was just being paranoid. It was probably just White wanting to keep him company. He forced himself to calm down, then quickly turned off the monitor and opened the door, revealing Purple standing in the hallway with a tablet. That certainly wasn’t what he had expected.

“Hey, Green. Here, I need this fixed - I dropped it on the floor, and now the glass is all messed up!” Purple glared angrily at him as he shoved a tablet into Green’s hands and promptly left the room.  “I need it back in 4 hours, okay?” He said as he left the room, leaving Green alone again. What had Green done to deserve such crewmates? Well, it wasn’t like he could do anything about it.

He sat down in his chair and looked at the tablet. Purple’s tablet. The screen was completely shattered, but everything else looked fine. He would just need to change the screen with a spare one from storage. Green put the broken tablet on the desk and got up. The hallways were empty, and Green reached storage very fast. It was actually just a 2-second walk from Communications to Storage. The room was big, but it felt like a small room because of the many crates in the middle of it, acting as a wall of sorts. As Green searched for the crate with spare electronic parts, he went around the big pile of crates, stopping once he found the light blue metal box. He opened it, and saw that multiple brown cardboard boxes with pictures of various electrical components were tightly packed in the metal crate. He took them out, one by one, and once he found the one with the picture of a tablet screen, he opened it and took out one screen, leaving the rest in the box.

As he got the rest of the boxes down back into the crate, Green suddenly remembered about last night, and the secret room. He turned around, and found himself looking at the Hallway outside Admin. It was weird, that this small quest for a spare part led him so close to this place. Again, he thought about a way to open it. With all of his skills and knowledge of computer systems, surely there would be a way to open it?

On Skeld-class cargo transport ships, the doors were usually some kind of massive steel doors operated by giant magnets concealed in the wall. They could only be opened by using the computers of Admin, and only if you had a high enough rank within the ship. Trying to open it by any other means would just make the doors security system kick in, which would make them attempt to stay closed at any cost. Every door was then connected with wires to the Admin room, enabling the captain to shut any doors from within the Admin room, should the situation so require. Very smart, except the wires could be cut by impostors, making the door act like a normal, but really heavy, door, or even worse, making the impostor gain control of the door through unknown means.

But wait, wasn’t this the solution to his problem? Just, cut whatever wires were connected to the door, pry it open, then fix the wires once he had seen what the room was hiding. He put down the box he had been holding, and walked towards the nearest wire panel. All wires had to be accessible by a panel, in case of malfunctions, and even though the door wasn’t exactly normal, it had to have a panel connected to it. Green opened the panel, the one connected to the door between the hallway and storage. Inside was a jumbled mess of wires, all of different colors, but only just enough for a single door. He pushed them all aside, as much as you could push away the colored spaghetti mess that was residing inside the panel. The wires were rebellious, trying to get back even as Green did his best to prevent them from escaping. Behind all of this colored mess was what looked like a wall with wires on it, but looking closely at it, Green could see that this was actually a second panel. Carefully taking all of the wires in one hand to free the other, Green opened the hidden panel. Green’s eyes were met with an even more colorful variety of the normal wiring panel, having both cyan, green and purple wires. He quickly got the panel shut again, just in case anyone saw him. It would be hard explaining why he was suddenly looking at the wire panel, so explaining why there was a secret panel behind the normal panel would be impossible. He hurried back to the boxes after shutting both panels, and began putting them back into the metal crate. Tonight, he would see for himself what secrets this ship was hiding.

As the light dimmed in the hallways of the ship, the crew went from the cafeteria to their own rooms for a well-deserved sleep. Green was sitting on his bed inside his room, waiting for everyone to go to sleep so no one saw him sneaking around at night. After what felt like hours, Green got up and got out of his room. Surely no one would be up at this time, right?

He did the best he could to walk without making a sound despite the fact that most doors on skeld-ships were usually sound-proof, especially those found around the sleeping quarters. Still, he didn’t want to risk it, since this was clearly a modified version of the classic skeld cargo-ship. He reached the cafeteria, and went towards Admin. As Green reached the admin hallway he looked up and realized that there was a camera, which with no doubt would be recording what was going to happen. Luckily, since they had all pretty much agreed that no impostor could possibly be on the ship (everyone except their captain), Blue, the security officer, had stopped watching the video recordings from simulated night. But maybe he should disable the cameras before doing what he had planned? Just in case. It would probably be hard to explain to Blue why he had been wandering the ship at night, only for the cameras to stop working, but at least he wouldn’t have to tell him about the room and all of that if he did happen to look through the recordings for once.

Once he reached the communications room, he quickly turned on his computer. Green got to work, disabling the cameras, one by one. Yet again, he was reminded that not only was this incredibly dumb, it was probably also highly illegal. On the other hand, Red hadn’t told them about any of this. Green quickly shrugged it off: he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it out of his head if he didn’t go through with it now. Once he was done with the cameras, he went back towards storage. The hallways were gloomy and Green walked slowly to avoid making sound. 

As he reached the hidden door he ran his fingers across the wall, trying to find the outline of it. Still there. Green went back to the wire panel, which he opened and then began pushing wires to the sides. The wires kept trying to get back into their original position, and each time Green got hold of a new wire, his bundle of wires would become bigger, making it even harder for him to take the next one. After what felt like an eternity trying to get the wires to stay put, he could open the second wire panel, revealing many wires of various colors. Using the wirecutter he had found in storage, he began snipping the wires, until none of the bright wires remained in one piece. Now he only had to thrust open the door, go check what was in the room, and then he could mend the wires and go back to his bedroom.

Thrusting the crowbar he had found in storage into the tiny crack, he made small but steady progress. Green was already regretting this approach, since it was hard work with such heavy doors not meant for manual opening, however after some time Green finally managed to get the doors to budge enough for him to see the room on the other side. He probably would have been able to squeeze into the small gap between the door and the wall if he wasn’t wearing the obligatory MIRA-spacesuit. The room was very bright, the lights clearly not following the simulated day-night system. Inside were a few metal crates, shelves with a small amount of items on them and a lot of dust on the ground. All in all, it looked like a storage room. Using his last bit of strength, Green got the door open, and stumbled inside, panting, as he leant against the wall for support.

When he was finally able to stand up again, he could see the whole room. There were boxes, shelves, a lot of each, but that wasn’t what caught his attention. To the right, a wall made of what looked like glass went from one side of the room to the other, forming another room. The wall had a door too, with a small hatch which made it look like a prison cell. And to add to it, the ‘cell’ even had furniture, such as a bed and a table. On the bed was a grey suit, as if someone had dropped their suit on their bed, yet no one could be seen in the room. What could Red have been doing here? Judging on what could be seen, Red kept someone prisoner, except there was none. Green turned around and began looking at the boxes in the room he was in. None of them had any indication of what was in them. The shelves had almost nothing on them, except a few tools.

Maybe the boxes held the answer? Walking towards one, he looked at it closely. No labels on it, nothing to show what the contents was. Using all his strength, he got the lid off, revealing vacuum-packed meat. Lots of it. Green could only stare at the contents of the box open-mouthed, the amount of meat that box held! Swiftly going to the other boxes, the act of opening them and looking down in them produced the same result: meat, meat and even more meat. What could anyone use this amount of meat for? Even with a crew of 12 humans, it would take years to eat this amount of meat! Unless … it wasn’t for humans! Green looked around his shoulder. What ate meat, had to be locked up and had to be kept hidden from the crew? The only non-human creature to be found on spaceships. He could feel himself tremble as he realized what was in that room - that cell. ‘Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!’ Was all Green could think.

“So you’ve been spying on me?”

Green turned around quickly, and found himself face to face with the captain. He jolted backwards, panic flooding his mind. Red was here! Red was here! Red was … Red was not looking angry

“Hey, it’s alright, you’re safe.” Green could only stare at the captain, as he laid his hand on Green’s shoulder. Very gentle. He looked … concerned. Was he really not mad at him? Green tried to say something, but he couldn’t get any words out, panic clouding his mind. It felt like an eternity, until Red finally broke the silence  “Come, we can talk about this tomorrow. For now, let’s get you out of here.”

Red walked towards the door and gestured for Green to follow, acting so much out of character, so unlike his usual stern and serious. Taking a few slow steps, Green began walking. He looked over his shoulder and saw the cell. The suit - no, the - thing - had moved. Well, this was certainly not how Green would have thought his first meeting with an impostor would be like. But, hey, at least he had survived it. 


	3. Chapter three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe Green should have thought his plan through.

As the crew of the skeld flocked to the cafetera, Green sat in his room, waiting for everyone to reach their designated rooms. He looked at the clock on his tablet. At this time, everyone should already have begun what little work they had, so he would probably not meet anyone on his way to communications. As Green opened the door and went out into the empty hallway, he thought about the events of the day before. He would have to apologize to Red for what he had done even though the captain hadn’t been upset or anything. Admittedly, it had been a bad idea. Not now, though, he needed some time alone to sort out his thoughts.

As he entered communications, he shut the door behind him. Green sat there for some time, just enjoying the silence. He couldn’t keep the thoughts at bay for long. Even though he was scared by the thought of having an impostor on board, at least he now understood why Red acted like he did. Why he always insisted on everyone to follow the protocols even though no sabotage had occurred for weeks.

Green looked at his tablet. Still no tasks. The security system was up and running again, Red having told Green to go to bed and let him fix whatever he had done to get into the room. Green pushed the thoughts away … he could think about it later.

Hours had gone by, but with nothing to do, it felt like weeks. Soon it would be time for lunch: one of Green’s least favorite times of the day. White would probably ask him why she didn’t see him this morning, and then start talking about how much she liked the salmon-flavored bars, or how great a friend Green was. Oh, it was horrible, the way she could keep talking to him without pause, and yet Green didn’t have it in him to tell her to shut up. Not when she thought he was her best friend. And, well, White did happen to be the only crewmate, apart from the captain, that still talked to him. Even though Green usually hated interaction with other crewmates, the past weeks aboard this ship had taught him that even he needed some kind of interaction with other humans, even with how hard it was for him. Thinking of Red, this would probably be a good time to go talk with Red.

He stood up from his chair and slowly approached the door. He put his hand on the door. Did he really want to go to admin and see Red? What if he ran into White on the way? He hesitated. He hated his fear of talking to other people, his nervousness, the feeling that made his voice stutter and falter. The door opened, and Green looked around. No one in sight. This part of the ship was usually empty at this time of the day, as everyone was in their assigned rooms, doing what few tasks they had. The hallways seemed eerily empty as Green walked in them silently.

Stepping into storage, he crept around the corner, into the hallway at admin. Sounds of computers whirring could be heard from inside the room. As usual, the door at admin was open. Looking inside, he could see Red tapping on a screen repeatedly, in such a slow manner that indicated that he wasn’t working. As Green slowly entered the room, Red looked up and saw him.

“Oh, it’s you. Come in, please.” the captain said with a smile.

Green tried to speak, but Red was faster. “It’s good you came. I wanted to talk to you about something. Come, take a seat.”

He gestured towards one of the empty office chairs near the computers. Green obediently pulled out one of the chairs and sat on it, while looking around nervously. It felt like someone could jump from outside Green’s vision at any time and attack.

Red pushed a button on the wall, and the door slammed shut. It startled him, making him tremble a bit. Red must have noticed

“Don’t worry, it’s just a precaution. So no one hears what we’re saying.”

“So, as I said, it’s good you came. I have something to ask of you. Concerning … our friend Grey.” He leaned towards Green as he said the last part in a hushed voice. _Grey … that must be the impostor_

Leaning back into the chair, Red continued in a more serious voice “Since you now know of him, there is no reason to why you can’t help me take care of him.”

Green was astonished. This was definitely NOT what he had expected Red to say.

“But -” He was about to object, when Red continued “There’s no need to worry, Green. It’s not dangerous. Just a few checks to see if he’s still there, give him some food if that’s needed.”

“I - I’m - captain - “ Green tried to say anything, but he couldn’t. Silence ensued. Green tried to think. Red wanted him to help him with this. He didn’t know why Red would want Green to help him. Perhaps Red just wanted to show Green that he trusted him? Maybe he was tired of keeping it a secret? A chance for Green to prove that he could be trusted? Whatever the reason, saying no was probably not the best option. Whatever the reason, it seemed like Red wanted him to do this.

“I will do my best, captain.” He finally said, his voice shaking slightly.

“Great. I’ll show you what you need to do, tonight. Then we can later decide how we’re going to handle this until we reach our destination. just remember, not a word to anyone.”

He stood up from his chair, pressed the button which opened the door and gestured for Green to go out of the room. Green slowly pulled himself up from the chair and walked out of the room, a bit dumbfounded.

“And then, when he finally noticed, he was already in storage, so he had to run back and get it!” White said, while laughing so much the crewmates at the other end of the cafeteria must be able to hear it.

“It’s sad you didn’t see, cause’ it was so hilarious!”

“hmmm … yes - ha ha…” Green mumbled.

During the whole lunch break, White had been telling him ‘funny’ stories about how Black had accidently spilled some medical samples on the floor, which had caused Blue to almost call an emergency meeting because they thought it was blood, or how Lime had forgotten to put on his suit when he had woken up this morning.

“It’s great having you back. I was worried when I didn’t see you this morning, but Red assured me you were okay.”

“Oh, yeah … had some trouble sleeping, nothing - nothing too bad though.” He responded, looking at his tablet “Well, time for work, see you later”

He quickly got up and away from the table. “Bye, Green…” he could hear White saying from behind him, more drawn out and quiet than when she usually spoke.

As he passed admin on his way to communications, he felt the air getting colder. The storage room didn’t have as much heating in it as the other rooms, making it frigid. Green shivered. Logically, Green wouldn’t have felt the cold since he had his spacesuit on, a layer of rubber and other materials isolating him from both cold and heat. It must be something else, maybe the poor lighting - or something else.

He hurried past the boxes and through the hallway that led to shields.

When he sat down in his chair, both excitement and fear was coursing through him.

As the hallways and rooms of the ship turned dark, the crewmates of the ship were fast asleep. No sound could be heard as Green sat in his bed, listening for anything that could indicate that Red was coming. He probably would have been able to hear him if the door didn’t block out any sound that wasn’t an emergency alarm or a really loud scream.  
Suddenly the door slid open with Red standing outside.

“Come, everyone else went to sleep.”

He gestured for Green to follow him as he walked away. Green quickly got up and walked into the hallway. Everything was dark, but not so dark they couldn’t see. They walked in silence until they came to the hallway that connected the cafeteria and storage - and admin. Red raised his hand, a silent message telling Green to stop. The captain slid out a card from his wallet and swiped it in front of the door, which opened without a sound.

“I made it so you can do this too, so you can enter when I’m not with you. Just be sure to only do it at night, otherwise we’ll have a hard time explaining stuff.”

Green nodded, bracing himself for what was in the room. As they entered, Green saw that nothing had really changed since yesterday, except that the impostor - Grey - wasn’t sleeping. He was standing behind the cage, looking at Green curiously. Red went over to one of the boxes and got it open, hauling a few chunks of vacuum-packed dried meat up

“So, the only thing you’re actually required to do, apart from keeping this a secret, is to take approximately 10 pounds of meat and shove it through that hatch.” he said, pointing towards the transparent door. Red got hold of a few chunks of meat and shoved them through the hatch, one by one. He didn’t even take the plastic off. Green looked at the grey-suited alien. It was still looking at him. Staring. But not like in a bad way. No, it just looked … curious? He hadn’t noticed exactly when it happened, but suddenly the impostor was pressed up against the glass, and its arms were … falling apart? Green jumped back with a yelp as he saw the creature in front of him transform into its monstrous real form. It’s arms were replaced by tentacles, across its stomach a line split, something akin to a smile forming across the grey suit.

“Hey, it’s okay. He can’t get out of his enclosure.” Green could hear Red say behind him with a calm voice, almost like he was talking to a scared child. Green was glad no one else was here.

“So, could this work? Do you think you could do this?” Red asked, saying it in the same way as before, like Green was some little child who would run away and hide in a corner if he raised his voice too much “Of course” Green snapped, realizing too late how he had said it. Red didn’t seem to mind at all, returning to his more captain-y way of talking.

“Great, then. I’ll make sure you will know when to do it.” Green felt a pat on his back as the captain walked past him. What had he done? He had just agreed to get up multiple nights a week to feed some kind of monster - Grey - while also keeping it a secret. And yet, Green almost felt excited. Wasn’t this what he had wished for? That something happened, anything to break the boring monotony of normal days.

As he was about to leave the room with Red, he looked back. The impostors ‘smile’ was now a frown, its tentacles drooping … Even with its otherworldly appearance, it looked very human to him.

They walked out the door, and Green lost sight of Grey.


	4. Chapter four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Green goes on a night-time trip and begins doubting his training.

Nothing but the humming of the engines could be heard as Green stepped inside the cafeteria. Weird … usually there would be other crewmates here at this time of the day. He couldn’t hear anyone working, no steps, no talking, nothing. Could it be night? Had Green simply woken too early? No, that could not be the case. The cafeteria’s clock showed that it was morning, yet Green was the only one here.

Had something terrible happened? The thought made him shiver, but he quickly shrugged it off. If something had happened, someone would have woken him up. He slowly walked towards the middle table, the one with the emergency button. If Green pressed it, everyone would come here immediately, but they would probably be pissed at Green if he pressed it without a VERY good reason. No, he would just have to wait for someone to wake up.

He stood in silence for a few moments, then heard steps behind him. He turned around and saw White, standing a few meters behind him. He made a sigh of relief as he looked at her.

“Oh, White, I’m so glad you’re here.” he said. White was not moving. She was staring at something behind him, but when he turned around to look, nothing was there.

“Um … White?” Still no reaction “Is - is something wrong?”. He tried taking a step towards her, but she suddenly looked him in his eyes. Her red eyes staring into his green. _Hold on! Red eyes!_ He backed away, his heart beating faster and faster. White began walking towards him

“Hey, Green, come back! Don’t you want some company?”

He quickly took a few steps backwards, then turned and bolted towards the lower hallway. He had to get away. This couldn’t be White! Just as he reached the hallway, the door shut, causing Green to slam into it with such force that his helmet got small, but visible, cracks. He turned around, White slowly walking towards him.

“Why are you running away from me? Don’t you trust me?” Green extended his arm, signaling for White to stop, while frantically screaming for White to stop “St- stay away!”

She stopped. Green could hear his heart beating, could feel it thumping in his chest. Green was starting to sweat, his whole body pressed against the door.

“P ... please! Stay - stay away!” Green was almost screaming it out loud. He knew what this was. It could only be. It would explain why none were in the cafeteria, why it looked like this was White, even though it clearly wasn’t. Tears ran down his face as he braced himself. He was going to die. Suddenly, White’s stomach split open, revealing wicked teeth, as white as the creature itself. His face was soaked by his tears, his sobs and rapid heartbeat the only sounds he could hear. He knew, these moments would be his last. He would never see his family again. Never see his friends again. Never see the real White aga... the creature's razor-sharp tongue pierced his chest, causing pain to erupt all across it.

Green jolted awake, bathed in sweat. He was in his bedroom. He was still alive. Green looked at his chest. No wound. He almost made a sigh of relief. As real as it seemed, it had just been a dream, or rather, nightmare. He quickly put on his suit and helmet and went out into the hallway. The rest of the crew was not awake yet, so he would have plenty of time to go to the public shower and take a bath.

The cafeteria was buzzing with sounds of crewmates, some talking, some just muttering a few words before going to work. Green looked at them. Everyone was still here. Except … where was White?

“Hi Green!” He was suddenly grabbed from behind, arms wrapping around him. It made him jump. Who was this? Why would they attack him like this? How could …   
He looked down, white arms in a position which could only be described as a hug.

“It’s so great to see you.” White said. As White loosened her grasp on him, he turned around.

“ H - hi, White. It’s, um, nice to see you too.” He said. He could feel himself blush. Green hoped no one saw him. “So - uh - i hope i see you again later.” He hurried away. He could almost feel White’s hurt, but he just had to. He just couldn’t be here with her, not with so many other people around.

Green reached communications in a short time and then did as he always did: shut the door, lean back in the chair, and relax. He knew it was not very nice of him to just leave White like that, he just couldn’t … couldn’t stay. He had always had this, well, problem. Always the odd one, the loner, the one no one talked to. He had liked it, because it meant that he was left alone. But White … she was the only one who had not left him alone. He had hated it in the start. Always annoying him, always distracting him from what he was doing … but over time, he had stopped considering it a nuisance - He had begun liking it, even with how hard it had been for Green - even with how much Green tried to deny. Had he really been alone for such a long time? Even with how little they talked, White was, well … his friend. His best friend. His only friend. So far, he hadn’t thought about it, but … if he lost her - he would be alone again.

And even though he was used to being alone … he didn’t want to. 

Green tried to force the thoughts out of his head. He had to think about something else. He took his tablet and turned it on. If he was lucky, there would be a task for him, however unlikely it was.

Looking at the task list, he saw that it wasn’t empty, a task was assigned to him. He quickly tapped it to see the details. Check wires in storage. But wasn’t that the engineer’s job? Sure, sometimes those who worked with communications also made sure the wires was connected properly, but with no impostors, that task was mostly made by the less computer-oriented crewmates.

Then he realized, remembering what had happened last night. Of course! This was what Red meant with him making sure Green knew when it was his turn to check up on the impostor - Grey. This way, Red would be able to tell Green without having to talk directly to him, so no chance of anyone hearing it. And if someone happened to see his task list, it wouldn’t appear too suspicious. And, well, it kind of was a task.

As Green walked through the dark hallways, he realized just how scared he was. At the smallest of sounds, Green would turn around and look in the direction of whatever had made it. In addition to this, his heart went crazy whenever he saw a shadow that looked like something, or even slightly resembled anything. It was amazing he hadn’t already got a heart attack. It also slowed him down by a considerable amount. How did he even pass MIRA’s health check?

When he finally reached the secret door, he took out his wallet. It was the place most crewmates prefered to keep their card. It also had room for a single picture, so most people had one of their family or friends in it. Green had one of himself. Maybe he should get a new one? Maybe one of his family? His friends? Oh, wait, he didn’t have any. Maybe one of White? Green stopped dead. Why had he gotten that thought? White was just a co-worker, right? Someone you would forget after the mission had ended. He had learned that from training. MIRA told you to not make friends, not interact with your other crewmates at a personal level, and absolutely no relationships of any kind. For efficiency they said. More like in-case-your-crew-gets-attacked-by-space-monsters. So you didn’t feel that sad when your crewmates were torn in half by impostors, and, of course, so it was easier to throw them out the airlock. As if anyone followed MIRA’s crazy rules.

Green swiped his card in front of the wall. Immediately after, the secret door retracted into the wall, revealing the room which held the impostor - Grey. He stepped inside, and saw that the creature was looking at him expectantly, much like a dog waiting for its owner to throw a treat to it. It felt weird … this was one of the creatures they had been told so much about during training. Keep an eye on your crewmates - they could be replaced by an alien impostor, whose only goal is to kill and eat all of you. He had been scared during that time, just the thought of someone of his crew being replaced by a malevolent impostor - or a parasite. Some of the other trainees had been spreading rumors that impostors weren't aliens, but parasites taking control of the body of a crewmate, making them kill their friends while warping their body so that it became a tangled mess of shapeshifting tentacles … And of course there were those who didn’t believe them and thought impostors was just some cover-up story that MIRA used to dispose of crewmates … Which certainly wasn’t true, considering Green was face to face with a real alien at this very moment. But right now, he wasn’t scared. The impostor - Grey - didn’t look scary. Of course he wasn’t in his alien form right now, so he looked exactly like a normal crewmate. Green went over to the crate Red had taken meat from the day - or rather night - before. Taking off the lid of the crate, Green took out a packet of meat. It was completely dehydrated and sealed in plastic. How anyone could think of eating this was beyond Green, but he figured impostors must work differently than humans. Red had said 10 pounds of meat … which meant that the impostors apparently ate a lot of meat … Taking out what Green thought was 10 pounds, he began dropping them through the hatch, one by one, until they formed a small pile at the other side of the door.

Grey still just looked at him, his eyes following Green’s every movement. Green was about to leave, when suddenly he heard a voice.

“Are you leaving?”

Green turned around and looked to see who had said it, even though he knew only one person could have been the source.

“Y - yes? Why … why do you ask?”

There was a silence as Green and Grey looked at each other.

“I just wondered … if you would like to stay? Just for some time...”

Green could only look at the impostor, everything inside him telling him to say no, to just leave the monster here.

“Does … does Red stay h - here for some time?”

“No... He leaves.” Grey sighed and slumped to the floor.

A silence ensued as Green looked at the sad alien.   
“Why do you - want me to stay?”

“I’m lonely … I haven’t talked to anyone since I came here … Please, Green. I know you might see me as a monster… but please…”

The words that came from Grey were some of the saddest he had ever heard. Not the words themselves, but the way it - he - said it. Maybe also because he was sitting on his knees in a position that just screamed _I beg you!_

Thinking about it, the mission had been lasting for 3 weeks now. 3 weeks. Only seeing Red, once a day, without any interaction besides giving him food like some kind of prisoner. Well, he was some kind of prisoner.

But Grey was an impostor. A monster. Every crewmate's nightmare. An alien whose only goal was to kill and eat … right?

That’s what he had been told for such a long time - what everyone had been told, yet seeing how Grey acted, how he talked … it didn’t make sense. Maybe he was trying to gain his trust? But how was that going to help Grey? It wasn’t like he was going to let him out of that cell - he didn’t even know how to!

Nothing bad would happen if he decided to stay with Grey and talk with him for some time, right? What harm would it do?

Green sat down on one of the crates. It wasn’t comfortable, but at least it was better than standing.

“O - Okay.”

Grey’s expression went from sad to overjoyed in an instant.

“I - I don’t know what to … Thanks Green!”

Grey was smiling. Simply seeing the supposed monster smile like that … It made Green wonder - Was there more to impostors than their hunger for flesh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a bit scared of posting new chapters ... I feel like people are not gonna like them.


	5. Chapter five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A jump in time and Green is doing great.

“Oh, come on Green. It’s gonna be fun!”

White was looking pleadingly at Green, trying to convince him to join Black and White’s ‘party’- They would play board games and have fun, he had been told. Black, apparently had an extreme obsession with board games, which explained why she had brought a suitcase full of them for the journey. Green would never have thought that it would have been possible to bring that many boxes full of cardboard and plastic figures with you on a cargo mission, especially with Red as the captain, but the medic had somehow labeled them as ‘recreational items for use by patients’. Black had asked White if she wanted to play with her, and as White’s ‘best friend’, Green was being forced to come with her. Not that he was going to complain. There was just the small problem of him having to feed Grey tonight, so if he went to the ‘party’, he would end up super tired the next day, as they would be up till late night. The thought made Green’s stomach churn. It didn’t feel right to call it feed, as if he was an animal. He might be an impostor, but … It didn’t seem like Grey was the kind of thoughtless killer that impostors had been described as. He seemed very much like a human.

“Okay, okay, I’ll come to the party.”

“That’s great! I have some samples to inspect, so I can’t hang around with you guys right now, but I’m glad you’re coming later.” Black was smiling as she waved and left them in the cafeteria.

“Do you have any tasks for today?” White asked. Green almost chuckled at the question. Green was the communications officer, and had had no real tasks for the whole journey.

“No, of course not. What about you?”

“Already done all of mine.” said White “Come, let’s go to O2. Brown promised me he’d show me all the different plants, and I’m sure he won't mind if you tag along.” White proclaimed. She grabbed his arm as if he had already agreed, but he didn’t mind. When they finally reached O2, Brown was watering some plants, his back to the door. They were brightly colored, clearly not the plants responsible for producing the oxygen on the ship.

“Come in!” He muttered.

“Hi, Brown!” White replied “I brought Green with me. Hope that’s okay.”

“Of course. You’re welcome in here.” Brown turned around, and suddenly began chuckling “You sure have a green thumb!” He laughed for a bit more, with White trying to not do the same.

“Sorry, bad joke, bad joke.” Brown took a moment to return to normal, then continued “Come over here, there’s this really beautiful flower you should both see.”

Green tried to imitate interest, though he couldn’t really get why they thought the plants were that fascinating. Sure, some of them were good-looking, but the way Brown could talk about them, you would think they were priceless pieces of art. Brown was currently rambling about which plants grew where and what planets they were commonly found on. It was a bit boring, but being with White made up for it.

For so long, he had been alone, and if it hadn’t been for White, he probably never would have experienced this. And Grey, though he could never say anything to anyone about him. For the past two weeks, he had been talking to Grey almost every other night. Seeing Grey in the cell, and him telling about how it was being trapped had made Green realize that having friends was way better than not having any. Plus, it had helped Green immensely, being able to ‘practice’ talking. He was, however, always reminded of the coming end of the mission whenever he saw the impostor. It had made him realize that, as soon as they reached their destination, not only would he never see him again, he would probably never see any of the crew again. Not White, not Black, not Brown, not even Red. For the first time, Green was actually happy, and yet it was coming to an end too soon.

“And this is our primary source of oxygen. These little green fellows are very specialized, just a few of them is enough to supply a spaceship with air.” Brown’s voice ripped Green out of his thoughts. This was going to be a long day.

After having to listen to Brown talking about plants for at least an hour, Green and White had gone to communications. It had been a few hours until the ‘party’, which they had spent talking and resting. Green had come up with an excuse about not sleeping well the night before, when in reality it was because he was required to check on Grey this night, meaning he wouldn’t get as much sleep as normal.   
Green knocked on the door to medbay where Black had told them they would be. First they’d play a few games and then … well, not much else, but they would probably end up talking about some random thing, or falling asleep.

Black opened the door and gestured for them to come in, while saying the obvious “Come in, come in.”

Green and White stepped in. Black had moved around the furniture. The beds for sure weren't in their usual places, and a table had been put in the middle of the room.

“So, what do you guys want to do first?” She asked.

Green looked at the big pile of colored boxes, each with different sizes. He hadn’t really played any games before, so he decided that maybe just letting the others choose would be the best option. “Oh, you have that game? I thought it was banned!” White exclaimed. Green looked at the dark-blue box she had picked up. “Impostor” it said “A game about deception, lying and murder” was written underneath the name, red text imitating the look of blood. It sent a chill down his spine. Why anyone would decide to bring a game about THAT on board a spaceship was beyond Green.

“Ah, yes, I got it before MIRA decided to sue the company that made it. But it’s really fun!” Black said “Come, bring it here and I’ll show you how to play, and then we can do a few quick rounds of it.”

Black began unpacking the contents of the box, pulling out plastic figures and cardboard.

“Okay, we’ll all get assigned different roles. If you get a card saying you’re a crewmate, your job is to figure out who has the impostor card.” Black explained. She shuffled together three cards and handed out one to each of them. She then began putting together a map of a ship with many rooms.

green looked at the card he had gotten. ‘Impostor’...

It had been great playing with Black and White. Green hadn’t expected to actually enjoy this evening as much as he did. After a few games of ‘Impostor’, they had moved on to playing some MIRA-approved games, before eventually deciding that the Impostor game was a lot better than the rest, even with it’s theme being rather … dark. So they had played that for the rest of the time.

“Well, see you tomorrow then.” White smiled while making a small wave at Green. It was late, and the rest of the crew was already asleep. Soon they too would be asleep. At least White. Green still had ‘tasks’ to do. He waved back at White as he entered his room and closed the door. Sitting down on the bed, Green tried to not get too comfortable. He’d have to leave the room once he was sure White and Black was asleep. It felt wrong, somehow, keeping it a secret. None of them had agreed to this, they thought it was a cargo mission, transporting materials and food to a far-away colony. Well, it was some kind of cargo mission, except the real cargo was an impostor.

Sitting in his room, Green waited for an hour to pass. It was around midnight. Everyone had to be asleep at that time. Opening the door, he stepped out into the hallway and walked through the hallway, trying not to make too much sound. He relaxed and began taking normal steps as he entered the cafeteria. It was a bit dim, but Green was used to walking through dark hallways now. As Green reached the hallway that connected Storage and Cafeteria, he got his card out and swiped it in front of the wall. Even though he had known about it for two weeks now, it still felt weird entering the room. It shouldn’t exist.

Green entered the room, the ‘clomp’ his boots made could be heard. Green felt like a prison guard entering a death-row prisoners cell. Even worse, the recent games with Black and White had made Green remember that Grey was in fact a very dangerous creature. Even if he wasn’t directly hostile towards Green, rather the opposite, he was still an impostor. They wouldn’t know what would happen if he was to escape.

As he entered, he noticed that Grey was awake. It wasn’t unusual for Grey to be awake when he came, and he usually smiled too, just like he did today, usually telling Green how much he liked him. But his smile … it looked different. It looked like he was trying to keep in some big news. Almost like how Green and every other trainee had looked when they had completed their MIRA-course and got to work on MIRA-ships.

“Hi Green. I am soo glad to see you!”

“M-me too” Green stammered.

Grey was still looking at him like he couldn’t wait to tell that he passed the final exam, or that he won some kind of big competition. But Grey was trapped here on the ship, in that room, so it wasn’t like he could have anything new to tell Green.

“I’m sorry, did I do anything wrong?”

Grey’s voice almost made Green jump.

“Why do - do you think th-that?”

Grey’s smile quickly faded, replaced by what seemed like genuine concern.

“You’re … you don’t usually speak in that way.”

“Y - you mean my - my - my…”

Green took a moment to get his voice under control. What was wrong with him? It wasn’t like what Grey was saying was ill-meant, rather the opposite. Not that it was unusual. For some reason, Grey always seemed to want to reassure Green that he considered him a friend, always telling him how much he liked him. 

“Sorry, it’s - it’s nothing.” Green said. It didn’t look like Grey was satisfied with the answer, but he didn’t try to ask Green again.

“It - it looked like you were going to say something?” Green asked. At the words, Grey’s face lit up, and it was clear he was very excited about what he was going to say.

“So, you know how MIRA is, right?”

Green thought about the question. MIRA was generally seen as perfect, the biggest factor in human expansion into space, the forefront of humanity, the de facto ruler of earth and any human colonies. Their presence was noticeable in every human’s life. It was simply impossible to live without MIRA. As such, most people thought highly of MIRA, an organisation with the best of intentions. It was of course bullshit, all of it. If MIRA really was this wonder that everyone thought it was, why did it have as many problems as it had? Greedy bastards didn’t even want to make new ships, instead opting to repair old spacecrafts. MIRA even held the record of most work-related accidents and deaths in human history.

Grey answered the question for him, his voice now full of hatred and hostility.

“Greedy. What those good-for-nothing scoundrels wouldn’t do to save just a bit of their precious money.” 

Exactly what Green would have said, but that wasn’t really some big news. Everyone who worked for MIRA knew that they would always try to save money if they could. No wonder the other crewmates still had to fix wires occasionally, even though no sabotages had occurred.

Grey continued his speech.

“And guess what. They wouldn’t even make sure this trip was safe for you!”

“Apparently, your well-being wasn’t their priority.”

Grey was starting to sound angry. Green had never seen him in a state like this, and couldn’t help but take a step back, even though a wall of bulletproof plastic-glass separated them from each other.

“I can tell you, that if I was in charge of making a cell for holding impostors, I would make sure that it was strong enough to withstand the force of one!”

And with those words, Grey swung a fist at the hatch. It shattered into a million pieces, and Green got a hand up just in time to shield his eyes from the shards as they flew across the room. It was kinda dumb, considering he had his helmet on.

“It’s unbelievable that it took me such a long time to notice how weak it was.”

Green watched in horror as the grey impostor’s body shifted and morphed itself to fit into the hole that had been left in the door.

He was about to run, but Grey was faster, his limbs elongelating and wrapping around Green’s legs and arms. Green tried to fight against the tendrils wrapped around him, but the impostor was too strong. Green could only watch in horror as more tentacles wrapped themselves around him, further constricting his movements.

“Stop fighting, you’re only making it worse for yourself.” Grey sneered. Even as Green used all his strength to try and break free, it was simply impossible, and a wave of dread washed over Green as he realized breathing was becoming harder. Grey was trying to strangle him! He could feel his whole body hurt as he was squeezed by Grey’s tentacles. This was it. He would die, by the hands of someone who had called him a friend. So it was true - impostors were really just monsters that cared for nothing more than their next meal. The pain was unbearable, and Green felt himself growing weak, his movements becoming feeble and his lungs burning for air.

The last words he heard was Grey’s reassuring voice.

“Don’t you worry, Green, I would never harm a friend…”

Then everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have it ... a leap forward in time - a big leap.  
> If I was good enough at writing, I think I would have made a chapter about Grey and Green's discussions / talks, but I'm not.
> 
> Anyway, I'm surprised by how many people read this story, even how many of those weird kudos (probably not that many compared to other, better, stories, but at least a lot more than what I expected), which I appreciate.


	6. Chapter six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Green is for some reason not dead ... but why?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I have an irrational fear of posting new chapters ... and curse words. When I wrote the story, I had written ___ in place of each of them. Took me around 5 - 10 minutes for me to just replace a single ___ with a curse word, despite me knowing what was supposed to go there.

_I would never harm a friend_

“Look, He’s waking up.”

“He’s still weak. Let him get his breath before asking any questions.”

Green opened his eyes. Bright lights blinded him, and he had to close them again. He could hear someone stand up and walk towards him, before sitting down next to him.

“How are you feeling? Do you feel any pain?”

What was this place? Was he dead?

Green was feeling exhausted, and his whole body was aching, but it was slowly fading. He waited a bit before finally replying to whoever had asked him.

“I - I’m … tired.”

“That’s okay. You just rest a bit more.”

Where was he? What had happened? He remembered Grey … The feeling of suffocation … passing out.  
It came back gradually, the memories of what had happened … he had been … killed? but why was he still alive? He slowly opened his eyes, trying to adjust to the sharp lights of … wherever he was. He could feel something soft beneath him, and something soft above him, covering everything except his head.  
On the periphery of his vision, he could see a humanoid shape, with a dark color. The room he was in was bright and he could hear the humming of a few machines. He tried to sit up, but the person in dark came over and gently held him down.

“Lie down and rest for a bit more.”

Green watched the person as they moved around the room. They looked familiar… was it … Black? He looked at the ceiling and realized that he was in the medbay. The soft thing he was lying on was a bed. It certainly made sense that if he was still alive he would be in the medbay … but how?

It felt like an eternity until the other person in the room stood up from where he was sitting and came over to the bed. He Instantly recognized the color as red. The captain sat down on the bed next to the one Green was on.

“I’m sorry Green. It’s my fault this happened. I should never have asked you to do that for me.” Red said, then took a deep breath and continued “It should have been me, not you, Green…”

Red looked away from Green, and Black came to his side too.

“Do you need anything, Green?” Black asked, her voice low as if speaking too loud would hurt him.

He was tired and thirsty and hungry, but it didn’t feel important.

“H-how am I still alive? What happened?” Green almost couldn’t get the words out, but somehow managed to emit a sound that resembled what he had intended to say.

“I - I found you in the hallway outside admin … It looked like you had been attacked - I got you to the medbay just in time, and luckily I got Black here quite fast.” Red took some time to recompose himself, then spoke again, this time much more like his usual self.

“I’m gonna call a meeting now. I have a lot to explain.”

And with that, Red stood up and walked towards the exit.

Green kept looking at the exit long after Red had gone through it, even after it closed, until suddenly a very loud sound could be heard, coming from seemingly everywhere.

“It’s just the emergency meeting alarm. We don’t have to attend the meeting.” Black explained.

He could hear the sound of people running towards the cafeteria a few moments after. He just laid there and listened to the barely audible voices coming from the cafeteria. It was nice, just lying there in the bed, yet he couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened. Apparently, Red had found him lying in the hallway … but that didn’t make sense! He had been attacked in the room, not in the hallway. Had Grey dragged him out and just left him in the hallway? And why wasn’t he dead?

It was mostly the last question that he thought about … Why wasn’t he dead?

_I would never harm a friend_

“What will happen now?” Green asked. Black studied him for a moment, before replying “Red believes the impostor already killed and replaced someone.” Black sighed and continued “We’ll just have to continue to our destination and keep an eye on each other, and once we’re there we can scan the whole crew.”

Green was about to ask why they couldn’t just scan the crew using their own scanner, but Black was faster, seemingly having guessed what he was about to say.

“Our own scanner was destroyed when we arrived. There’s no way we can repair it.”  
Green tilted his head so he could look at the scanner. Its surface was completely shattered, and some of the scanner’s plastic covering was missing, with wires of all colors sticking out of it in random places.

“How - how long will I have to stay in the medbay?”

“Just for today. You were lucky you didn’t sustain any major injuries.” Black answered “If you need me or you start feeling worse, just tell me. I’ll have to go sort out this mess and see if any other equipment is broken.”

Black trudged over to the other side of the room and began opening several cabinets, inspecting every item in them one by one. Outside the medbay, the sound of steps could be heard as someone passed by. They must have finished the meeting. Out there lurked an impostor. One of his crewmates had likely been killed by Grey, who was now acting like them, impersonating them. It could be anyone, even Red - or White … the thought made him shudder. What if White had been killed by Grey? His best friend - his only friend.

Just a few days ago and Green _might_ have considered Grey a friend … he had been nice and all, always happy to see Green. But then he had betrayed him, and almost killed him.

_I would never harm a friend_

Almost …

Green closed his eyes and tried to empty his mind of cluttered thoughts. In the background, he could hear Black moving stuff around. The faint humming of the engines could be heard too. And the vent made a small creaky sound.

The vent!

Green sat up immediately and looked towards it. He could have sworn there was a pair of red glowing eyes looking at him, but in the blink of an eye, literally, they were gone, and there was nothing unusual about the vent anymore.

Maybe he had just imagined it? Some kind of side effect of nearly suffocating?

Black was still sorting various medical equipment, oblivious to everything but her work. She hadn’t heard anything, but perhaps that was just because she was concentrating on her work?

Green tried to shrug it off as paranoia. There was no way the impostor - Grey - would sneak through the vent just to look at him, right? Why would he even do that? A silent threat? check if he was actually still alive? It didn’t make sense.

Nothing made sense.

_I would never harm a friend_

Green laid down on the bed again. The thoughts were still cluttering his head, preventing him from getting rest. Whenever he tried to, intruding thoughts about impostors, Grey and the crew would pop up. Just the thought of Grey ripping one of his crewmates to pieces while he was here in the medbay made him shiver. He had seen the teeth, the sharp tongue, if only for a short time, weeks ago, but still. He had felt the strength of Grey - He could have easily pulled him apart and gulped the remains down like a piece of ration bar, heck, he probably could have swallowed the whole of Green. Black was right … he was lucky to be alive, let alone remain uninjured.

_I would never harm a friend_

“Fuck, That freak deleted all the medical records of our whole crew!” Black almost yelled. Green looked over at Black and saw that she was currently operating the medbay’s computer.

“Every single one?” Green asked.

Black turned around.

“Sorry Green, I didn’t mean to wake you.” She quickly turned off the computer and went over to the broken scanner.

“It’s a wonder we still have SOME of our equipment left. Whatever this impostors is up to, they did a very good job at sabotaging the medbay.”

Black sighed and sat down on one of the beds, her head drooping. They both stayed quiet for what seemed like an eternity, until Black finally broke the silence.

“I keep thinking that one of our friends is dead...” Black tried to look away from Green “I Almost can’t believe it. Yesterday, everything was fine and now it’s just …” Black stopped speaking and covered her visor with her hands as she began making small sobbing sounds. Green had never seen Black like this - she had always been positive and happy … just like everyone else on the ship - except Purple and Blue, those two had always been extra mean towards Green.

“Hey, Black?”

Black stopped and looked towards him. Green could see the tears running down her face.

“Yes?”

“I - I just wanted to say thanks…”  
Black took off her helmet and wiped the tears away.

“For - for - for being such a good friend … I - I know I haven’t known you for a long time, b-but...”

Black looked at Green and tried to smile. It looked a bit forced, but it still made Green smile too. Then Black turned around and took something from the table next to it, and came over to Green.

“Sorry, I forgot about this. We figured you might be hungry when you woke, so Red brought some food for you for when you woke up.” She handed him a ration bar, and Green stretched his arm to accept it.

“Thanks”

He was quite hungry, so he quickly unpacked it and began eating it. Black returned to the bed she had been sitting on.

“So, how are you feeling now?” Black asked him.

Green thought about it for a moment. He wasn’t exhausted anymore, he didn’t feel any throbbing pain and he wasn’t that hungry anymore.

“I’m - I’m fine.” Green replied. It was true - he actually felt better than on a normal day, the pain and exhaustion almost completely gone by now. He just hoped it would stay that way.


	7. Chapter seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a normal day ... as normal as it can get when there's an impostor on the ship.

Apart from the sudden distrust and distance between the crew, the multitude of sabotages and the overall feeling of impending doom, it was pretty much the same as it had been a few weeks ago. If it hadn’t been for the fact Green now actually had tasks to do now, he might have forgotten that there was an impostor on the ship. And of course, the fact that every single thing on the ship was malfunctioning.

Grey had been good at his “job”. That morning when Green had woken up, he had gone into the cafeteria, and like he usually did each morning, he had tried to take a ration bar from the vending machine. Instead of his food, he had gotten wires and other spare parts that had been clogging up the machine. Multiple people, including an annoyed Cyan, a paranoid Blue and a rather friendly Purple, had quickly helped him fix the machine, allowing everyone to get whatever they wanted from it. Red had then come to them, explaining that they would be working in pairs. Green would go with Red, Purple with Blue, Lime with Cyan, Orange with Yellow, White with Black and Brown with Pink. Green was glad that his two friends were together. He was pretty sure Black was not an impostor, which meant that White would be safe, And since Black was the ship's doctor, they would stay in medbay for most of the time. They would be safe. _Unless White is actually Grey_. Green tried to push the thought away. He didn’t want to think of it.

He and Red walked through the hallways in silence. Red had been giving tasks to every pair, deciding that he and Green would go around fixing any broken wires.

As they entered storage, Red went over to the wire panel, opened it, and then made an almost inaudible moan as he saw that the wires were cut.

“It seems like our little impostor friend thinks cutting wires is fun.” He exclaimed and beckoned Green over.

Green remained silent as he handed Red the spare wires he had been keeping in a small toolbox he had found in storage earlier that day.

“He must have spent the whole night going around cutting wires. Too bad he also took the video tapes from Security.”

Grey certainly had done a good job of preventing the crew from discovering who he was impersonating. Records had gone missing, journals had been tampered with, all data about past events had been wiped from the computers of the whole ship, heck, even personal belongings of some of the crewmates had gone missing. That morning when he had to swipe his card at the card scanner in Admin, he found the picture of him had vanished from his wallet. The same thing had happened to some of the other crewmates too. Brown’s reading glasses were gone, one of Blue’s Survival knives had disappeared and half of Black’s games had gone too. Why Grey had stolen those items was beyond Green, except maybe Blue’s knife.

Red worked in silence while Green watched him. When he was done, he gave Green the broken wires, which he put down in the toolbox. Once they had inspected all the wire panels they would go to the Cafeteria’s trash compactor and eject all the broken wires. Red had told him the airlock was the way to go for broken wires and impostors alike. It somehow made Green’s stomach churn. Even though he was talking about murderous aliens, it still didn’t feel right ejecting them into the cold nothingness of space. And frankly, whenever Green thought of Grey, he still thought of him as … a person? A living thinking creature? It just didn’t make much sense that Grey would try so much to pretend to be Green’s friend for no apparent reason. He hadn't tricked Green into letting him out. He hadn’t gotten any useful information out of Green. He could have just as well have waited for Red to come and attack him instead of Green. He could have killed Red, their captain. And yet he attacked Green. And he didn’t even kill him.

“Green, wake up, it’s not time for you to sleep.”

Red’s voice, along with the tug on his shoulder, jolted Green out of his thoughts. Green turned around and saw Red was waiting for him impatiently. He quickly closed the lid to the toolbox and walked towards Red, who then led Green towards the hallway leading to the right engine.

“Shouldn’t we check the wires in electrical?” Green asked as they walked past the door leading to the most dreaded room on the entire ship.

“There’s so many wires in there, I have decided that we’ll do that tomorrow. It’s better to leave a whole day to work in Electrical in my opinion.” Red hastily said and walked faster. Green had to start running in order to follow, making the wires in the toolbox roll around. When they reached the engine room, Red stopped abruptly, causing Green to almost slam into Red.

The captain opened the panel, and once again, made a grumble Green had become all too familiar with. Using his wire cutter, Red began cutting away the snapped wires until none remained. Green then gave him a handful of differently colored wires, like he had done so many times today, and stood by as Red began placing the new wires in the panel.

“Just need to check the panels in security and the left engine now.” Red muttered. As they walked towards security, Green could hear voices coming from the room. They must be talking loudly for Green to hear it from that distance.

“I still think Red should have told us.” a voice that sounded like Blue said. “He’s still our captain. There’s no need to -” Green could hear Purple cut his sentence off as Red and Green got closer to the room. They stepped inside the room. Blue was eyeing Red warily, while Purple tried his best to alleviate Blue’s unconcealed distrust of the two of them by looking moderately glad.

“Shouldn’t you be checking the reactor?” Red asked in a stern voice.

“We already checked it.” Blue snarled.

Purple quickly jabbed Blue in the side, making him emit a low cry of pain. “We already did so, and thought that keeping an eye on the rest of the crew might not be such a bad idea.”

Red looked at the two crewmates and then went over to the panel. Green followed him, leaving the other pair in the other end of the room. Red began taking down the panel covering, repeating the actions he had done all day.

“I’m telling you, we can’t trust him. He cares more for MIRA’s ‘scientific specimen’ than for his crew.” Green could hear Blue say. It sounded like a whisper, but it was way too loud. Red didn’t stir, not the slightest sign of having overheard such a blatant show of mistrust and disrespect.

“Blue, that makes no sense. He said he’d throw it out the airlock once we found it. Why would he do that if he didn’t care about his crew?” Purple countered.

“Yeah, as if we can trust what he says. That barstard would do anything for MIRA.”

“Blue, I don’t -'' Purple stopped suddenly. Red was done with the wires and turned around to leave the room as if he hadn’t heard Blue and Purple’s conversation. Green followed, but it felt like he had missed something … Blue and Purple had just openly discussed their, at least on Blue’s part, massive mistrust of their captain, and Red hadn’t blinked an eye. Just a week ago, Purple had mentioned that he didn’t like MIRA’s obvious love of white captains, claiming that just because he was purple didn’t mean he couldn’t be a captain. The whole argument was kinda pointless, considering this ship had a red captain. Nevertheless, Red had still made Purple scrub the floor of all the hallways for several days. And now he didn’t even say a thing? And Purple didn’t agree with Blue? It, like so many events that had happened recently, didn’t make sense. Maybe he had just imagined it? Maybe he should ask Black if she could make a medical check on him, just to be sure he hadn’t sustained any brain damage or anything like that from his near-death suffocation experience?

They continued down the hallway to the left engine, the last room they would have to check. There they got the panel open, replaced all of the wires with new ones and then went towards the cafeteria. It was soon time for ‘dinner’, the daily event consisting of grabbing a ration bar and sitting down at a table with your friends.

Red and Green were some of the first, with only White and Black already there. White saw him, and waved at him, smiling weakly as she signaled for him to come over. Green took a random bar from the vending machine and walked over to the two crewmates. Red followed, taking the toolbox from Green and then continued over to the trash compactor to eject the broken wires.

“Hii, Green.” White exclaimed. Black just nodded while taking a bite of her bar.

Green sat down next to White, and began unpacking the contents of his small packet. Usually White would have begun talking by now, but it was as if some unknown presence had a dampening effect on the bright crewmate. In fact, as more people trailed into the cafeteria and sat down with their friends, they too ate in silence.

“So, um - how was your day?” Green asked, trying to spark a conversation.

“It’s been … fine?” White responded. She tried to smile, but it was weak and obviously forced. “I’ve had better days.” Black said, her voice dull. No one had anything to say, and it was hard to begin speaking when silence dominated the room.

Green quickly gulped down the ration bar. Usually, its taste was really bad, but with how hungry Green was, it was like eating the best ice cream he’d ever had. Except it wasn’t cold. Normally, the food they got was enough to keep them relatively well fed, but considering he had spent yesterday in medbay recovering, and probably skipped at least one meal, it made sense for him to be hungry. Still, with how many strange things that had been happening today, it might be better to ask.

“Um … Black? Are you sure I didn’t get any injuries from…” Green managed to say. Black didn’t respond for some time, then crumpled the plastic wrapping from her ration bar into a small ball.

“Yes, Green, I am sure you got no injuries.” Black’s voice was monotonous and lacked the vibrant tone it usually had and her eyes were unfocused and stared into nothingness. Green almost recoiled from the words, the sight of his friend in such a bad state almost made him sick. Black must have noticed, because she quickly added “Sorry, Green I’m just a bit annoyed by the mess that was once medbay. If anyone gets badly hurt, I don’t think I would be able to help them!” The last part came as a whine.

The rest of the eating session was spent in silence, as no one dared say anything, the paranoia (or in Black’s case, complete and utter helplessness and depressive state of mind) quelled any attempts at having a meaningful conversation with anyone. Soon they were all done eating, and were just waiting for it to become simulated night. It had been a really bad day, and Green almost couldn’t wait for it to end. It had been boring, a day full of paranoia, the feeling of impending doom and hunger. He almost couldn’t wait for breakfast the next morning. The ration bar, even with how bland they usually were, had disappeared way too fast for Green’s liking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What to say, what to say?  
> Oh, yes, I know what to say.  
> Thank you, all who read this story.  
> It means a lot to me.  
> For more than a month, my only real joy have come from making this story, and to see that some people actually like it ...  
> I'm sorry, this note might be weird.  
> But that's just how I am.  
> Can't all be perfect.  
> Can't all be smart.  
> Can't all be a happy bean.


	8. Chapter eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small change of plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is probably the chapter (or at least one of the chapters) that I am the most nervous about posting  
> Which is why I'm doing this in the middle of the night instead of during the morning, like I usually do.

Green opened his eyes, and was met with a blinding light, which made him close them again immediately. Whoever had designed the lights on these ships was an idiot. Green shifted his body around in an attempt to get in a position that would allow him to open his eyes without having them destroyed by the simulated day. As he did so, he could feel a burn on his skin wherever it was touched by the soft material of his blanket. His whole body was sore, and Green had to throw off the blanket with all his might to get rid of the burning sensation. It felt like a cross between having done heavy physical work for many hours straight and missing the skin on the whole of the affected body. Not that he had tried either.

He sat on his bed as the pain slowly faded away, until he could finally touch stuff again. Green quickly put on his suit, thankful for the burn to have gone away. For such a big pain, it had gone away quite fast. Opening the door, Green went out into the hallway. Some other crewmates were already awake, but it seemed like they were a bit reluctant to go into the cafeteria. Green would also have liked to wait a bit before going to the cafeteria, but he was getting hungry, could almost feel it grow inside him. His fast pace out into the hallway made others follow. It was as if as long as they stayed together, they would be safe from the impostor. That was probably why Red had stated that everyone had to work in pairs. As he neared the vending machine, he quickly grabbed his daily food packet. Opening it, he quickly ate the contents, which deadened his hunger. Not enough to completely eradicate it, but enough for him to be able to think of other stuff. As he waited for Red to come and give everyone their tasks for the day, he saw that while everyone was still on edge, they weren’t as much as the day before. Brown was telling a bad joke to pink, who in turn made a small giggle. Lime, Cyan and Yellow were talking about their life on earth or whatever colony they came from, while showing the picture they had in their wallet to each other. Even Purple seemed to be in a better mood, as he tried his best to smile to other people. The one that stood out was Blue, as he had drawn away from the rest of the group, merely observing the others as they tried their best to pretend nothing was wrong.

“Okay, so we’ll be working in the same groups as yesterday.” Red announced as he came into the room from the lower hallway. Everyone turned their attention to the captain as they heard him, and quickly went over to the person they had been paired with the day before. Some were even preparing to leave as Red continued.

“With one exception. Since we now have an impostor on the loose, we’re not allowed to land on our original destination, which means I’ll have to rechart our course.” The captain took a moment to let everyone take in this new information. “This means I’ll have to have Orange go with me to navigation to rectify our steering and make sure everything is aligned to our new trajectory.”

“What about me?” Yellow asked in surprise.

“You’ll go with Green to electrical and make sure everything is in order.” Red replied. Yellow made it clear he did not like the idea, by showing an unmistakably big frown, but reluctantly went over to Green as Red beckoned Orange over to him. The rest of the crew checked their tablets to see what rooms they were to check for sabotages. Soon, only him and Yellow remained.

“Argh, I hate Electrical!” Yellow yelled. their fists were clenched, and it seemed like they could lash out at anything at any moment.

“Come, Green, the faster we’re there, the faster we’re done, and the faster I can get out of that room again.” Yellow growled as they walked towards storage. Green had to break into a run to follow the fast-paced crewmate as they headed for the dreaded room. Soon they were at Electrical. Green had never actually been in it, but from what he had heard from White, it was dark and scary, with wires everywhere. Yellow was waiting for Green as they stood at the entrance. When Green finally reached Yellow, they both entered the room. It was bright, considering how everyone talked about it as if you could see nothing while in it.

“Fuck, I hate this room. Come, let's get this done and hope the impostor doesn’t kill us.” Yellow said as they carefully stepped across a bunch of wires on the floor. They led Green around a wall that separated the room into two. “Remember to stay at the same side of the room as me.” Yellow advised “That way, we increase our chances of survival by a lot.”. Green simply nodded as they began opening wire panels, inspecting them one by one.

Bright wires were all across the room, and Green had to carefully untangle them to avoid them getting tied together. Yellow seemed to have the same problem, but they were much better at it than Green. Sometimes he even had to cut some wires off and replace them with new ones, just to get them free from the spaghetti constellation they had become part of. Just the thought of spaghetti made his mouth water.

“Green if the lights go out as you pull a wire apart, please put them back together again.” Yellow said behind him. “Y - yes. Of course - that’s ... obvious.” Green replied. Sometimes it really felt like the rest of the crew thought he was a child who didn’t know what they were doing.

“Green, if the lights go out as you pull a wire apart, please put them back together!” Yellow said, this time clearly annoyed. “I - already heard, Yellow. There’s … no need to repeat.” Green replied as he cut another wire that was part of the giant wire knot.

“Green, you moron, just put those damn wires back together!” Yellow yelled.

Green almost jumped out of his suit at the words. Green took a moment to take a breath. “What do you mean, Yellow?!” He yelled back at the brightly colored crewmate.

“Green, you idiot, stop doing that, it’s not fun, just reconnect those wires so we can get the light back in the room!” Yellow screamed at him, now desperate for Green to do as they said. Green turned around to see Yellow sitting completely still, trying not to move. Their eyes were unfocused, staring out into nothing but the air.

“Y - Yellow, what do you mean, the lights are already on!” Green pleaded. Whatever had happened, it seemed like Yellow wasn’t all there.

“For the last time, Green, put back those wires so we can get the light back!” Yellow shouted at him, this time even louder than the last time. A few tears were running down Yellows face, which was colored red by anger.

“Y - yellow, the light’s - the light’s are already on …” Green said “Wait - wait here and I’ll get Black” Green added before Yellow got a chance to scream at him again. Yellow got visibly upset at Green’s words, and quickly began yelling at him for considering leaving them in a dark room all by themselves, even swearing that they would kill him if he didn’t put the wires back immediately.

“Okay, okay, give me a second! I’ll - I’ll put the wires back, and then - then you’ll have to let me take you to Black!!!” Green yelled back, desperate to get the yellow-suited crewmate to stop screaming and yelling at him. Yellow stopped at those words, instead beginning to sob and breathe raggedly as if they had been in a fight to the death. He quickly began reconnecting the wires that he had been cutting. Not that he thought it would help with the lights, but at least it might calm Yellow down. When he had connected the last wire, Yellow let out a gasp of relief, and as Green turned around, he saw that Yellow was looking at Green with fire in their eyes.

“How hard can it be to connect two fucking wires?! All you had to do was literally just to move them back together, unless you’re some kind of moron who drops the wires as soon as the lights go out!” Yellow yelled at Green, which made him flinch and back away from Yellow. Green had never seen anyone this furious. Even worse, it seemed like Yellow was convinced the lights in the room actually had gone out.

“Y - yellow … p - p - plea - please … I - I.” Yellow walked up to Green, doing his best to intimidate the darker crewmate. Which worked very well, considering Green was now shaking like a leaf. Yellow pushed Green into the wall, pressing him up against it. “Why - did - you?” Yellow said with gritted teeth, still pressing the trembling Green up against the wall. “Why did you not just put those fucking wires back together!? We could have been killed! The impostor could have killed us both, we would have no way to defend ourselves in the dark!” Yellow screamed, making Green wince. He closed his eyes as he prepared for Yellow to make a move. He tried to call for help, but it was as if his tongue was frozen, and his lungs were emptied of air by Yellows constant pressure. Yellow had gone insane, that was the only way Green could make any sense of this.

“Wait, open your eyes.” Yellow commanded. Green tried, but when he saw the furious crewmate Yellow had become, he closed them again. “Damn it Green, I said open your eyes!” yellow yelled, in a tone Green had become all too familiar with over the last few minutes. If it wasn’t because Yellow looked like he might kill Green at any moment, he might have been concerned about his hearing. It was clear, Yellow must have gone insane. Doing his best to obey Yellow, Green opened his eyes. “Look me in the eyes, Green.” Yellow said in a commanding tone. Lifting his gaze to Yellow, he could see the anger, the fire that burned in their eyes as they looked into his.

“Oh no …” Yellow muttered. The anger, the fire, all of that, disappeared in an instant as Yellow looked Green in the eyes, instead being replaced by fear. Yellow backed away from Green as if he was some wild and dangerous animal, almost making a small jump first, then slowly creating distance between them. Green slumped to the ground, exhausted from the discussion with Yellow, and the fact that he had been shoved up against a wall. “Oh no …” Was all Yellow could say as he backed away from Green, one step at a time.

“Y - yellow, please …” was all Green could say. He just wanted this to end. It was bad enough knowing one of your crew was an impostor, but seeing the paranoia hit Yellow like this … Green tried to stand up, but was interrupted by Yellow’s voice “Stay down!” They yelled. Green was now completely sure Yellow had gone insane. “You’re not going to hurt this crew!” Yellow said as they turned around and bolted for the exit. Green, with how confused and exhausted he was, could only stay at where Yellow had left him, leaning against the wall. His breathing was ragged and his heartbeat had gone crazy. There had to be some kind of curse on Green, with him nearly suffocating two times in the last few days.

After some time, Green finally got up, using the walls as support, and got himself around the wall that separated Electrical. He had to find Yellow and get them to Black. _If they haven’t already convinced everyone I’m the impostor_. Because that was clearly what Yellow thought he was, with how they had reacted. Green got himself dragged out of the room, barely managing to not trip over the cables running along the floor. As he neared the exit, he could suddenly smell a strong scent of iron. Had Yellow slammed him into the wall with that much force? Another reason why he had to get to Black soon, even though she had said she didn’t have many medical supplies left. _If I’m not thrown out the airlock by paranoid crewmates before then._ He just hoped she would be able to talk some sense into Yellow.

As he left the room, the iron-scent became much stronger, almost unbearable. The sickening smell made him want to throw up, and he almost considered taking off his helmet. However, the smell didn’t prepare him for the sight of the source of said smell. On the floor near storage lay Yellow, his organs spilled across the hallway, a pool of blood covering the floor as it continued to flow out of the body. Green had to look away to avoid retching immediately. Almost without thinking, Green stumbled across the body, and into storage. He had to get to the button and press it. As he neared the central table of cafeteria, he wondered how he was going to explain what happened. How ironic - Yellow’s last words had been them implying that Green was the impostor, and yet their reckless dash for the button had got them killed while Green got to live.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something inside me is just saying 'Ironichydra, everyone's gonna hate this chapter. No one's gonna understand what happens. There will be none who keep reading.' and I can't get it to go away.


	9. Chapter nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the worst of the chapters, and I am afraid people are gonna hate it.  
> Ah, I hate it, I can't get rid of that feeling. Even when there's comments about this story being good, which I really appreciate, the only thing I can think of is: "This is a bad story, Ironichydra, it doesn't make sense, it's bad and it's poorly written."  
> Also, I'm afraid (afraid as in scared) people are going to expect something and then be disappointed if something else happens.

As the sound of the emergency alarm rang out across the ship, Green could hear multiple people running towards the cafeteria. First came Black and White from the direction of medbay, then Blue and Purple followed shortly after. Red and Orange came from weapons, with Lime and Cyan following shortly after. From storage came Brown and Pink. All of them gathered around the table, looking around with confused glances.

“Who pressed the button?” Asked Cyan.

“M - me” Green muttered, his voice hoarse from screaming, crying and exhaustion. Everyone’s attention snapped to Green as he tried to formulate meaningful words.

“What happened?” “Why did you press the button?” “Where’s Yellow?” The voices overlapped and made Green unable to hear anything but the roar of a wild crowd, eager for answers. “Enough, let Green speak!” Red’s command silenced the rest of the crew.

With the rest of the crew waiting eagerly for whatever message Green had for them, he took a breath before speaking. “Y - Yellow … is - is … dead.”

Green could hear the gasp of several crewmates. “How! How is that possible?” Orange demanded. Other crewmates asked similar questions, and Green could only hold his hands up as if to shield against the words. Orange, not content with the lack of answer, was about to stand up from the bench, but was held down by Red, who in turn stood up himself to grab everyone’s attention. “Everyone, will you please shut up and let Green speak?” he said to the assembled crew. Everyone fell silent.

Green took a few quick breaths before speaking again. “Y - Yellow … they - outside Electrical.” Was all that Green could say. He didn’t know what to say now, didn’t have enough air in his lungs to say another word. Yellow had let paranoia get the better of them, but would they believe him? Thankfully, the crew remained silent, allowing Green to think.

“Yellow - they - they g - got scared … ran - ran out. W - when I - I…” Green trailed off as he remembered the horrific scene. The rest of the crew seemed to understand as Green finished talking. Everyone looked around at each other, some whispering to those next to them.

“It’s obvious it’s you.” Blue suddenly said “No one else was even near Electric. And come on, that story is just nonsense.” Some of the other crewmates began to nod while others stared daggers at Blue.

“And you suddenly know where everyone were?” White countered.

“Maybe everyone can just say where they were?” Brown said diplomatically.

“Does it really matter? We were all with our partner. We should be able to account for each other. Everyone, except Green -” Blue said in a mocking tone.

“But it can’t be Green … He was in the medbay at the time all the sabotages happened …” Black said.

“What if there’s more than one impostor?” Pink piped up.

“But there was only one ... Red said there was only one.” Brown said while pointing towards Red.

“And who says we can believe Red?” Blue asked. At the words, Red gave Blue a death stare and clenched his fist as he began talking “And who is to say we can believe you? So far, all you’ve done is accuse and blame Green.” Red declared. With that, Blue was silenced, but he still looked at Red, distrust of the captain radiating from him. In fact, not only was Blue not talking, no one was talking.

“Now what?” Lime finally asked.

Red looked at the assembled crew. “Let it come to a vote then … See if you really believe it’s Green who is the impostor.” Red announced. The voting system. MIRA’s famous voting system, that had been both a savior and the cause of many deaths throughout all of MIRA’s history. And now Red had just allowed them to cast judgement on Green!

“We can’t vote out Green! He’s not the impostor! You said it yourself!” White insisted.

Red ignored her, took out his tablet and pressed on its screen. Suddenly, every other crewmate's tablet beeped and a voting screen came up. You only needed half of the votes to be condemned, two thirds if you were an important member of the ship. Sadly, Green wasn’t considered important, only the captain and the medic had that luxury. All around him, he could hear people tapping on their screen. What if they thought it was him? Would they really throw him out in space? Would this be the end of his life?

With shaking hands, Green took his own tablet and pressed on the ‘skip’ vote. No way he would vote on anyone who might be innocent. Besides, the vote was about him.

The results of the vote came seconds after Green had confirmed his choice. Small dots of various colors popped up besides both his picture and the skip option. 3 for Green: Blue, Cyan and Orange. The rest was on skip. He almost made a sigh of relief as it was confirmed that he would stay on the ship.

“Good, now that’s out of the way, I’ll need to re-assign the pairs. If no one has anything else to say, the meeting is dismissed.” Red said nonchalantly, as if Green’s life hadn’t been on the line. He looked across the table at the crewmembers, then rose from the bench and walked across the cafeteria into the southern hallway and then into the admin room.

“Are we allowed to leave the cafeteria?” Pink asked.

“Technically, yes, but doing so would be a bad idea unless you leave with someone else. Besides, Red probably doesn't need that much time to reassign buddies.” Brown replied.

All around, Green could hear people talking. Most of them talked to their ‘buddy’, except Blue, who didn’t talk at all. And himself … He didn’t have anyone to speak to.

“How are you doing?” White’s soft voice came behind Green, and he turned around to see the bright crewmate. Next to her, Black stood, a complete opposite of White.

“I’m - I’m … fine?” Green replied “I - I mean, I … considering what - what happened…” Green quickly added.

“You just say if you need anything, Green.” Black said. As if it wanted to answer, Green’s stomach rumbled. “Sorry” he said as he went over to the vending machine. He hadn’t noticed until now, but he was practically starving. Typing in the code for a ration bar, he took the food packet and unpacked it as he walked back to his two friends. He had already got rid of half the bar when he reached them.

“It’s bad luck, that’s what it is.” Black said, apparently replying to something White had said. Before he had a chance to ask what they were talking about, the medic had turned her attention to Green. “Green, I noticed you were having trouble breathing when you were talking …” Black said.

Green wondered if he should tell about Yellow’s … less than sane actions “I - Before Yellow … ran out - they.” Green involuntarily took a deep breath as he remembered what had happened not that long ago. “They tried to - to strangle me - sort of.”

both White and Black looked at him in shock. “But why would they do that?” White exclaimed.

“I - I - I don’t know!” Green’s answer came out as a whine. Black quickly took Green’s hand “Listen, Green, I’ll ask Red if you can come with me and White, and then we can talk about this, okay?” she said in a soft tone. Green could only nod as Black talked to him like a scared child.

“Okay, so tomorrow the following pairs will be: Lime and Orange, Brown and Blue, Pink and White, Purple and Black, Green and Cyan. I’ll go with Green and Cyan.” Red announced, having come back from his trip to the admin room.

He was about to say something else, but Black interrupted him. “Red, I would appreciate If I could go with Green.” Red looked dumbfounded by Black’s sudden request, but quickly tapped his screen, apparently complying with her wish. “It would be best if we could get someone else with us, preferably someone he knows and trusts. Even without any medical knowledge, it should be rather obvious that he is pretty shaken up by recent events.” Black added.

Red tapped a few times on his tablet, before finally announcing the final pairs. “Well, then this is how it’s going to be: Lime and Orange, Brown and Purple, Pink and Blue, Cyan and me, White and Black will go with Green.”

As everyone was about to dispatch, Red raised his voice “To accommodate for our new route, I’ll be shifting the simulated day-night cycle ahead, so we’re awake during flyby’s of dangerous interstellar objects. This means you all have exactly 10 minutes to eat and get into your rooms. Dismissed.”

And with that, Red left the room. Everyone quickly lined up to the vending machine. Thankfully, it was an older model, which meant you didn’t have to pay for the food, which would have slowed the whole process down. One by one, the crewmates got their food and quickly scurried into their rooms, locking the door as they entered. When it was his turn, he quickly got his hands on a piece of food, and then walked to the sleeping quarters.

“See you tomorrow, Green.” White said as she made a small wave. Black muttered something incomprehensible that probably just was a ‘goodnight’. Green entered his room and closed the door behind him. Exhaustion crashed over him, and all he wanted was to lie down on his bed and sleep, though he couldn’t sleep as long as the lights were still on ‘day’ mode.

Green fiddled with his helmet as he waited. Had Red forgotten to set the cycle to the new schedule? It seemed like an eternity, and by now, the lights should have changed. He looked at the clock. It was synchronized to earth by default, or otherwise to whatever schedule the ship used, and it showed it was nighttime. Probably sabotage by the impostors. Didn’t matter, Green would just switch the room’s system to manual control.

He opened his tablet and found the settings for ‘lighting in personal room’. Green clicked on it, and … nothing happened. The room was bright as ever. He tried again. Nothing happened. Again. No matter how many times Green tried, the room was still visible. Maybe something was wrong with the connection? He looked at the tablet’s status: connected. Green couldn’t get it. Apparently nothing was wrong … But something had to be wrong, right? It would be embarrassing if the ship’s computer expert couldn’t even fix the lights in his own room. Maybe if Yellow was still alive, they’d scream at him to fix the lights?

Then it hit him. Maybe … He looked at the lamp. To Green’s horror, the light in the room didn’t come from the lamp. In fact, that wasn’t the only thing wrong. He couldn’t see any shadows. Green gasped. Had he gone crazy? He closed his eyes. Maybe this was all a dream? He’d wake up and all of this would just be a nightmare. When he opened his eyes, the room was still lit up by some unknown power. Maybe … maybe Yellow hadn’t gone crazy after all?

And Yellow, they had - they had looked Green in the eyes. Green quickly took his tablet and turned it off, producing a black mirror-like surface. He stared at the reflection. The reflection stared back at him. But it wasn’t his eyes. No no, Green had never had such eyes. No, his eyes pupils had always been round, with a green iris. But the reflection … It had vertical pupils, not unlike that of a cat or snake … with a red-orange iris. It couldn’t be … possible! He quickly turned on the tablet again. It stated that the lights were off. Quickly turning the lights on, and then turning off the tablet’s screen, he looked at the reflection. The eyes that stared into his were normal. Normal human eyes. His own eyes. He let out a gasp of relief, and his heart, that he hadn’t even noticed, slowed down. He must have gone crazy … and yet - He looked at the reflection, this time looking closely. Totally normal eyes. And yet, he could see something faint in them, something very faint, the kind of thing you could only see if you knew it was there. It was as if there was a layer behind his eyes, hidden from view. Green had an idea … a theory - something was terribly wrong with him … Maybe he’d gone crazy, or there was actually something wrong with his eyes … but one thing was for sure - Something was wrong with Green, one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already made all chapters for this story, which I'm really glad I did, cause then I can say to myself: "You already wrote all of the chapters, just post them, you can't change your story now!"  
> Well, you're probably tired of all of these notes about me telling how nervous I am ... I'll try to not do it.  
> Anyway, I began making another story, and I'm already soon done. So once I've posted all chapters for this story, I will begin posting the new story.  
> Also, I really appreciate all of your comments. Like, a lot. And I know some other people on AO3 respond to comments ... but I'm just too ... afraid - yes, that's right, I'm actually scared of responding to comments.


	10. Chapter ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Green wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate all of your comments. I'm really glad that people like my story. I still can't stop thinking ... the thing I've been rambling on about for the past I don't know how many notes.  
> Anyway, I just wanted to say that I really appreciate all of your comments.

As Green woke from his not-so-good sleep, he opened his eyes, not to a blinding light, but instead a bright room. He threw off the blanket that he had on top of him, letting it fall on the floor. He placed his feet on the floor and stood up, stretching himself. No pains, no exhaustion, no blinding lights. If it wasn’t for the intense hunger Green felt, it would have been the perfect morning. He quickly got his suit on and prepared himself for the walk to the cafeteria. He unlocked the door to the hallway and went outside. As he got into the hallway, he had to put his hand up to his visor to act as a shield against the extreme luminosity of the hallway. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust before he could put his hand down.

When he could see again, he noticed that everyone else was up too. Quickly going to the cafeteria, he got a ration bar dispensed and ate it with a few quick voracious bites. It was gone too fast, and Green had to take another one, just to keep the feeling of starvation at bay.

“Wow, someone’s hungry.” Black exclaimed as Green gulped down the last pieces of his second meal. “mhm” was the only thing Green could respond with, as Black came over to him.

“Well, let's get going. Red wants you to check the ship's systems. Me and White will come with you and keep you company.” Black said as she looked around for White “There she is.” Black went over to the bright crewmate, who was sitting at the cafeterias center table, and Green followed as fast as he could. When they reached White, she got up from the bench and promptly hugged Green.

“It’s so great to see you, Green!” She exclaimed. Green tried to return the hug, but it was hard when they were in full sight of everyone. When White finally released him, she took him by the hand and together they followed Black. Green couldn’t help but smile as he walked with White, glad that she was finally coming back to her former happy self.

After a short walk through storage, they reached the hallway which led to communications. Green opened the door and they all stepped inside. They each took a chair and sat down, Green in the middle with White and Black on each side of him. Green turned on the communication room's main computer and began opening the status logs for each of the ship’s systems. 

Everything seemed to be working perfectly, no malfunctions or sabotages, everything was just up and running like nothing had happened.

It was as if there was no impostor on the ship. He’d been trained for this, the only reason he was here was to ensure that if there was an impostor aboard, its sabotages on the computer systems were fixed.

_But the blood … It was everywhere_

Green checked the various room’s connections, the power consumption, the navigational status, even the reactor output. But no, the impostor hadn’t sabotaged anything.

_But the organs … spread on the floor_

Green quickly went through the logs - It was as if the work was draining him of his energy, slowly seeping out of him.

_like blood dripping out of a wound_

“Green, are you all right?” He could hear Black ask him.

“I - I’m okay” Green said, his voice husky and sounding out of breath. He could feel pressure on his chest and black spots started appearing on the edge of his vision.

“Green, you’re not okay!” White said. Green could feel his lungs being emptied of air.

_You’re my best friend, Green. I would do anything for you_

“Quick, we need to get him to the medbay!” Green could feel something on his arms, something grabbing them and lifting him up from the chair.

_Stop fighting, you’re only making it worse for yourself_

Green tried his best to walk as he was half-carried along the hallways by what he assumed was White and Black, even though his vision had become so blurred that they essentially melted together and became all grey.

“Don’t worry Green, we’ll get you to the medbay.”

“Just hang on, Green!”

Green tried to say something, but when he opened his mouth, he couldn’t get any sound out. He tried to nod, but his head was as limp as his legs, which were now being dragged along the floor. His head was full of sounds and thoughts, becoming a cacophony that drowned out everything else.

_I would never harm a friend_

_Open your eyes!_

_He cares more for MIRA’s ‘scientific specimen’ than for his crew_

_It’s obvious it’s you_

He only barely recognized the medbay’s overly white walls as they entered the room. He could feel himself being lifted up and pushed onto a bed.

“Deep breaths, deep breaths Green.” Black’s voice said. Green hadn’t even noticed, but his breathing was ragged and his heart was beating in a fast and irregular pattern. He tried breathing normally, but it was simply impossible.

Green could hear Black say something, but the words were incomprehensible.

Green vision became blurred, and everything became one big mass of color, which slowly transitioned to black, until he couldn’t hear or see anything.

The hallway was empty, except for Green. No sound could be heard as he wandered along it, searching for someone, anyone. It was as if the ship had been abandoned, not even the engines could be heard. The whole hallway was lit up as if it was simulated day, yet it had an uncanny lightless glow to it, as if it sucked out the color of everything around him. “Hello? Anyone here?” Green asked. No answer came to him, only the echo of his own words bouncing off the walls.

He continued along the hallway, occasionally asking if anyone was nearby. He eventually came to the cafeteria and stepped inside. No one was here, not even the slightest clue of anyone. He quietly walked over to the central table. The emergency button was tempting him, almost willing him to press it, to call everyone to the cafeteria. If there was anyone left on the ship.

“No need to touch that shiny red button, Green, I’m right here.” He could hear a familiar voice say. He turned around and saw a grey crewmate by the vending machine, apparently ordering a ration bar from it. “You want one too? Just say it, and I’ll be there, friend.” Grey said, a grin forming on his face. He picked up two food packets and strolled up to Green, offering him one, as if they were both two crewmates, not a human and an impostor. Green looked at Grey’s outstretched hand, the plastic-wrapped food reminding him of how hungry he was, how starving he was. Sure, Grey was an impostor, but accepting this wouldn’t do any harm, right? Slowly taking it, Green began unwrapping it. “Don’t worry about me, Green, I would never hurt you.” Grey said reassuringly as he sat down on the bench, gesturing for Green to sit next to him. He slowly settled down beside the impostor and began eating the ration bar. It tasted like nothing.

“Are we really so different, you and I?” Grey asked. Green thought about the question. “Y - you’re an impostor … I’m a human - how - how is that the same?” Grey’s smile just got wider. “Reluctant to admitting it, I see.” He said. “Reluctant to admit - what?” Green asked as he took another bite of the ration bar. This time it was squishy and he could feel fluid running along his lip and down to his chin. He moved his eyes from Grey to the bar … or rather the meat, because that was what he was holding. Fresh raw meat, dripping with blood. Green let go of it, the meat landing on the table with a sickening sound. He gasped as he stood up in shock.

“See, Green, we’re very much alike” Was the last thing Green heard the impostor say.

Green blinked once, then twice. He wasn’t in his room, but rather an overly white one, lying on a fluffy bed with a white blanket on top of him. “Thank MIRA, you’re awake.” He could hear White say. Turning his head towards the direction of the sound, he found White standing next to the bed. He could hear steps approach as Black joined White next to Green. Black looking concerned and White looked happy, yet sad. She was smiling, but her face showed signs of crying, her eyes and face puffy. “You passed out.” Black said bluntly.

“How do you feel?” She quickly added.

_hungry_

“I - I’m fine”

“If you need anything, just tell me.” Black stated. She then walked away, leaving White at Green’s side.

“I’m so glad you woke up! Black was afraid you wouldn’t survive.” She said.

“I what?” Was all Green could say. He had been close to dying?

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned it to you, sorry, sorry, I’m so sorry!” White immediately began apologizing.

“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Green said, trying to get the bright crewmate to calm down.

“Okay, so I have some questions for you, Green. If you at any point feel uncomfortable, dizzy or tired, you tell me, okay?” Black said, having come back to Green’s side, this time with a notebook and a pen. Green nodded, turning his attention at Black.

“Just remember that if there’s anything you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to. Understand that?”

“I understand.” Green replied.

Black sat down on the bed next to Green’s, the opposite side of where White was.

“What is the last thing you can remember before you … passed out?” Black asked

“I … I think I … saw Yellow …” He answered.

Black wrote in her notebook.

“And Grey …”

“Grey?” Black looked puzzled.

“He … it was the impostor’s color. Before it - escaped.”

“You said you saw Yellow?”

“Yes … like - like”

“A flashback?” White suggested.

“Yes - exactly” Green affirmed

“I …” green could feel his chest tighten and had to gasp for air.

“That’s enough! Thanks Green, you don’t have to continue.” Black declared, quickly scribbling down something and putting the notebook away.

“There’s some water and food on the table next to your bed.” Black pointed to something next to White. He turned around and saw that a small makeshift table had been placed next to the bed, a glass of water and a ration bar on it. He quickly took the water and drank it, leaving the ration bar untouched. No way he was going to eat it after that nightmare.

The nightmare …

_Reluctant to admitting it, I see._

“Where’s my tablet?” He asked. White quickly reached for something behind the makeshift table, her hand coming back with Green’s tablet. “Here you go” She said as she handed him the tablet.

“Thanks, White.” He said while looking around. He spotted Black at the medbay’s computer, with no one else in the room.

“Could you … maybe” He looked around the room for something to distract her with “That blanket over there?” He said and pointed towards one of the beds in the other end of the room.

“Sure, of course.” White said, quickly going over to where he had pointed. He took up the tablet and looked closely at the reflection.

_See, Green, we’re very much alike_

Green could feel his heart drop as he looked closely at his eyes. He had forgotten all about it that morning. Just like the night before, his eyes had a very faint layer that was almost impossible to notice.

But it was there.

And now he had a theory on why.


	11. Chapter eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not being able to sleep is annoying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't push the thoughts out of my head ... no matter how hard I try.  
> I feel nervous about posting this chapter.  
> All I can think is 'Ironichydra, this story was bad enough! Why did you have to make it worse?!?"  
> I'm sorry for these notes ...

Green looked at the reflection on his tablet again, its flame-colored reptilian eyes gazing back on him. He had been looking at it the whole night, ever since Black fell asleep. The lack of light didn’t bother him, as the room appeared as bright to him as it had been during the simulated day. Green was mesmerized by the look of his eyes, even though it also scared him a lot. He had debated with himself for hours, before eventually deciding he would not say anything to Black. Not only would he have a really high chance of getting a one-way ticket to outer space it also meant that … well, not much else, but if he got ejected, so many bad things would happen. The crew would believe he had been the impostor, which would mean they would let their guard down. He would never get to see White or Black again. He would die. Green didn’t want to die … Just the thought of being thrown out into space with nothing but his suit on made him shudder. And he still needed answers. Clear answers, not the theories he had made up himself. He knew something was wrong with him. He knew what was wrong with him. But it didn’t make much sense … Green wasn’t a human anymore, that he knew. Humans, as far as he knew, weren't supposed to have vertical pupils, nor were their eyes red-ish, and they certainly did not have nightvision. And on top of that, all of this was only visible in the dark.

No, Green wasn’t human.

He had expected to be scared, to be afraid, but it was as if there was a coldness in the fact. As if something had dampened his fear.

He put down his tablet. Getting some sleep would probably be a good idea, but it was hard with the extreme hunger he was experiencing. It had started as a small hunger, but had become more intense throughout the day, and now it was as if his whole stomach had been ripped out, and a hole had been left inside him. He glanced at Black, who was sleeping in one of the medbay’s beds. She had asked Red to set the ship’s door system to lock all doors automatically, and keep them locked, during nighttime, so they could stay in the medbay overnight, without the risk of the impostor killing them. But right now, Green wished they weren’t. If he could exit the medbay, maybe he could have found something to eat. But the only way out was the door, and the door was locked. _And the vent._

Green looked at the metal grate covering the vent. If he could open it, he might be able to use it to enter other rooms. But how would he be able to fit? It was way too tight for a human to fit, and he didn’t want to end up getting stuck in it. _but you aren’t a human._

Doing his best to not make a sound, Green stepped down onto the cold floor. He wished he still had his suit on, but Black had asked him to take it off so she could examine him more easily. Still, it would make it easier for him to fit into the small shaft. Crouching down next to the vent, he slipped his fingers into the holes in the grate, doing his best to get a good grip on the metal. As Green pulled it upwards, he found it much easier than expected. The grate looked heavy, but were surprisingly light.

Putting the big piece of metal next to the hole, Green stepped down into the vent. _This is silly, there’s no way I’m going to fit into that tiny hole_.

He lowered his upper body down until he was crouching in what would have been a dark shaft. Ahead of him, the vent barely had room for a child, let alone a grown up, and it didn’t seem to open up or become bigger.

_ I’m really gonna do this? _

Angling his body so he would enter head-first, Green pushed forward. Instead of his shoulders scraping against the sides of the vent, Green could feel his body twist and warp to fit the vent’s small size. It was as if he had no bones, a bizarre and uncanny feeling. Crawling forward, or rather slithering forward, Green tried to find his way to the cafeteria’s vent. He had never used the vents to travel before, and he certainly never thought he would, so he wasn’t surprised when he poked his head up in Admin. The vent cover clattered as he jumped out of the vent. Not that it mattered much, the rest of the crew wouldn’t be able to hear it. Green looked at himself. He still had his clothes on, even though it looked like ironing it would be a good idea. His body looked normal, with no signs of having been contorted to fit in the tiny shaft.

Green didn’t get much time to marvel or be disgusted by this new ability, as his inspection of his limbs was interrupted by the noise of a growling stomach. Food, that was why he was here. Or rather, that was why he was going to the cafeteria. But Green didn’t really want to go into the vents again, at least not right now … maybe there was an alternative? Maybe he could open the doors, and just close them on the way back?

He walked towards the nearest computer. They were part of the ship’s mainframe, so they were always turned on, meaning he could get to work straight-away. Opening the ship’s door control, Green issued a door opening order to the Admin room’s and the cafeteria’s doors, overriding the protocol that Red had made. He could hear a ‘woosh’ from the doors as they slid open, enabling Green to exit the admin room. He slowly went into the hallway, sneaking around the corner, as if he would be exposed if he wasn’t careful.

As he reached the vending machine, he pressed the buttons, ordering several food packets. They dumped out of the machine, one by one, and Green took them all, bringing them to the nearest table. It was strange, sitting in the cafeteria, all alone, especially when you knew it was pitch black. Green opened one of the food packets, eating it feverishly. It was gone too quickly in Greens opinion, not at all enough to sate his abnormal hunger. He quickly unpacked another one, gulping it down as fast as the first one. It was as if he wasn’t eating anything, the food having no impact on the void in his stomach. It wasn’t until the last one was gone that Green realized he had just eaten in less than a minute what could have lasted days before. And yet, it had done nothing to the craving he felt. And this was what he could get. If he took too many, it would be noticed, something he would rather avoid.

Quickly disposing of the empty plastic wrappings, Green left the room. As he entered the hallway, Green almost without thinking went over to the opposite side of the admin room. It reminded him of going up at night to enter a room the rest of the crew didn’t know about. If he just hadn’t followed Red that night, maybe none of this would have happened. If just Red hadn’t asked him to help him with Grey. _Grey_. Grey … Had it been him who had done this to Green? Surely he would be the only one capable of doing such a thing. If just Grey hadn’t done … whatever he had done to Green.

_ I would never harm a friend _

Grey, who could have killed Green - but didn’t. Grey, who had called Green his friend, despite their ‘friendship’ being pretty one-sided.

Green’s train of thought was put to a complete stop by the sound of a growling stomach. He was still hungry, the ration bars having no effect. If he just had … he quickly searched his pocket blindly, until his hands came across a small plastic card. He took it out of the pocket and looked at it. It was his card. His personal crewmate’s card. Used for the card scanner and, in Green’s case, opening secret doors. He clumsily got hold of it and waved it in front of the wall. The door opened instantaneously, presenting Green with a view of the room he hadn’t thought he would see ever again.

_ Are we really so different, you and I? _

Stepping inside the room, Green noticed that nothing had really changed, everything was where it had been when he was here last time, even the plastic-glass on the floor. Carefully stepping over the shards, Green made his way to one of the boxes. He took off the lid, and was met with the sight of mountains of meat, all of it packed in vacuum-sealed plastic.

_ You know you have to _

Green took one of the meat-pieces, lifting it up so he could get a closer look. Just the sight of it made his mouth water, and he had to use all of his willpower to not bite into the flesh. Carefully unwrapping the meat, he got it free from its plastic covering. At once there was the most delicious, mouth-watering, flavorful smell Green had ever encountered, and it was clear how much he was starving. Without hesitation, Green bit down in the flesh, the sweet taste spreading throughout his mouth. Tearing out a lump of the meat as easily as if it had been a wet ration bar, Green swallowed it hastily, leaving his teeth free to once again bite down on the flesh. When he was done, he could feel his tongue swipe along his teeth, which felt pointy and sharp, canine teeth lining his mouth instead of his flat human teeth.

He didn’t have much time to think about how he had just devoured that piece of meat before he once again, this time much more impatiently, unwrapped a meat-chunk and made short work of it. It was as if he got less focused the more meat he ate, his mind growing foggy, until his thoughts were completely obscured by the need for food.

_ See, Green, we’re very much alike _

When Green finally came back to his senses, he didn’t feel hungry anymore. He hadn’t even realized, but he had consumed a lot more of the _delicious_ meat than he had intended, plastic wrappings littering the floor, some of them still intact, but most of them had just been torn apart.

_ Were I really that hungry? _

Green wanted to feel disgusted, to feel revulsion at his actions, but he couldn’t while the sweet taste of meat lingered in his mouth.

Green quickly gathered up all of the plastic pieces and stuffed them into the box he had found the meat in. When he was done, he quickly left the room and got the door closed.

Entering admin, Green got the doors in the cafeteria and admin room sealed as well, leaving no trace of Green’s crime. Now all he had to do was to get back to medbay and get some sleep.

Lowering himself into the vent, Green did his best to place the vent cover in the vent, despite it being tricky. When Green finally got the grates placement right, he prepared himself mentally for what was to come. Pushing himself forward, he felt his limbs return to their boneless state, shifting to accommodate for the limited space of the ventilation shaft. Slithering along the vent like he had done it a thousand times before, Green reached the medbay. He hauled himself up from the vent in the medbay and carefully placed the vent cover on top of the hole, sealing the only exit, the proof of his night-time adventures. Black was still asleep, still in the same place as when he left her.

He silently crept onto his own bed, pulling the blanket on top of him and closing his eyes.

_ I really am an impostor... _

It was as if he suddenly realized, as if it was only now he found out. He wasn't a human! And ... and he wasn't even panicking.

He hadn’t really thought about it - but ...

Did that mean he was now an enemy of MIRA? A threat to his crewmates? A monster, a freak … an alien.

Green tried to push the thoughts away.

Tomorrow he would have time to think about it … for now he should get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a few questions and such ... you don't have to answer them, of course!  
> 1: Does any of you know any discord servers where people talk about Among Us stories (fanfics)?  
> 2: Would people get mad at me for making a story from the same 'universe'? I know some other people does so on AO3 where the stories aren't directly related, but there's similarities.  
> 3: I made another story. I hope it's not too bad. I'll be posting it, one chapter a day once all chapters for this one have been posted.  
> 4: I really appreciate all of your comments. I really do.


	12. Chapter twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A normal day in the medbay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for this chapter being slightly shorter than most. I think it's around 25% shorter than the average chapter.

“There he is!” Red screamed “Hurry, get him before he can escape!”

Sounds of boots hitting the floor in the rhythm of running could be heard echoing along the hallway Green was sitting in. Turning his head around, Green could see Red and the rest of the crew running towards him, their eyes burning with hatred and disgust. He quickly rose to his feet and began running away, turning a corner, and continuing to speed along the hallway he did not recognize. He didn’t know where he was going, but he had to follow the hallway, otherwise the angry mob would surely catch him.

His heart was beating furiously and his breathing was ragged as he turned another corner, just to come face to face with a closed door. Behind him, he could hear the mass of angry crewmates coming closer, each passing second making the sounds louder. Green tried to get his card out his pocket, his only chance of opening the door before he was caught. Clutching the card with a tentacle, he frantically waved it in front of the door … _A tentacle._ His arm … was a tentacle. From his shoulder down to where his elbow should have been was a thick green tentacle, that split into three thinner tentacles where the joint should have been, each one waving independent of each other.

He didn’t have time to think about his new appendages, as he was suddenly grabbed from behind by multiple hands, constricting the movement of all of his limbs. He writhed in their grasp, trying to break free from their hold of him, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t escape the hold the crew had on him.

“Quick, get the airlock ready!” he heard Red yell. He could feel himself being dragged away, and tried to turn his head around to look at the captain.

“P - please! Stop! I’m not the impostor!” Green yelled, desperate to get away from the angry crewmates.

“Says the one with the tentacles!” Brown sneered as he tugged on one of Green’s tendrils. Even with Green fighting back, it took no effort for the crewmates to get him hauled into the airlock, almost throwing him the last bit of the way. Before he could even get up, the airlock was closed, and Green was trapped inside the small room. He banged all of his limbs against the glass, but to no avail.

“Let me out! It’s not me! I’ve done nothing wrong!” He screamed, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

“You won’t harm any more of this crew, monster!” Blue said with bared teeth as he pressed the button that would release him into outer space. Green could feel a rush of air as he was sucked out into the void.

Green’s eyes flung open as he almost jumped up from his bed. He was in the medbay, with Black standing next to him. She gently wiped the sweat that was covering his head away with a small piece of cloth.

“Don’t worry, it was just a nightmare.” She whispered to him. Green could hear his heart beating fast, slowing down as the effects of the nightmare subsided.

“Just relax, Green. Here, drink this.” She said calmly as she handed him a glass of water. Accepting the glass, he began drinking the cold liquid. “Thanks” he muttered as he emptied the glass.

Black took the empty glass and placed it on the small makeshift table next to the bed before going over to one of the beds to fetch her notebook and her pen that was lying there.

“So, how are you feeling?” She asked him as she came back to his side.

“Fine - all good.” He said. He wasn’t exhausted, he wasn’t tired, no pain. _not hungry_. Black looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but didn’t question him further.

“How - how long will I have to - stay in the medbay?” Green asked after some time. Black looked away from Green, then turned back to face him, pity practically painted on her face as she spoke “You’re … going to stay here for a long time…” “At least until we can get to planetside - I can’t do much for you without our medical equipment.” She added quickly.

“Here, you might want this.” White’s voice came from his other side. Turning around in the bed to look, he found her with a food packet held out to him. He took the packet, even though he wasn’t that hungry.  “Also, Red wants to talk to you, Black” she added, pointing towards the doorway where Red stood, with Cyan waiting outside the medbay. She quickly walked over to the captain and asked him why he had come to the medbay.

“How bad is it?” Red asked. He could see that they tried to keep their voices down, yet he could hear it as clearly as if they had been standing next to him.

“I’m afraid he could die if he is exposed to too much of something that would remind him of his traumatic events.” Black replied.

“Die?” Red asked, shocked.

“Yes … I think he’s got aggressive survivors disorder, but it’s hard to determine while we’re still on this ship.”

“Excuse me, but could you repeat that in english?” Red asked.

Black sounded irritated as she answered the captain “It means that if he is reminded of the traumatic event, or events in Green’s case, he could die from the shock it inflicts on him.”

“So he won’t be able to -“ Red didn’t get to finish his sentence before Black said “No!” in a slightly higher tone than their conversation had been in.

Red made a snort as he turned around and left the room, and Green could hear the sound of two people going away.

“Soo … how do you feel?” White asked. Green had forgotten about her while he had been listening to Red and Black’s conversation.

“I’m fine - totally fine.” Green answered, trying to smile at her as he said it. She returned his smile, sitting down on the bed next to him.

“I hope we can get on the same ship after this mission.” White said, her eyes unfocused and dreamy as if she was imagining what it would be to go on that other mission.

“Me too.” Green replied.

_If I am allowed to live_

“Also, you don’t have to stay in the bed the whole time.” White informed him, her attention back to reality.

“Unless you are feeling dizzy or tired. Then lying down would be a really good idea.” Black, who had just come back to Green and White, added, before retreating to the medbays computer. Green simply nodded to show that he understood, then got himself to sit upright and swung his legs out over the bedside, letting them dangle down.

“Hey, White?” 

“Yes?”

“I - I just wanted to let you know … I’m really glad I got to know you.”

“I’m glad I got to know you too.” White replied

“And - and … you know all those times where you wanted to talk to me and I - I just walked away?” Green half-laughed “If we come on - on the same ship, I promise I’ll never do that again.

“When” White quickly said

“When?” Green repeated

“You said ‘if’. You just gotta believe, Green.” White said, a big grin on her face.

“When we come on the same ship, then” Green said, White’s positiveness having infected him and causing him to smile widely, more than he had ever done.

“Green?”

“Yes?”

“I just want to say … of all the people I have met - you’re the only one I’ve really considered a friend. You’re my best friend. I would do anything for you.”

_ You’re my best friend, Green. I would do anything for you _

Green was immediately ripped from reality, brought back to a moment which seemed to have happened so long ago. Had Grey also meant it, or had it been some kind of trick to get him to trust him?

_ I would never harm a friend _

Had he really meant it when he had said all of those words? Had the impostor really considered Green ‘a friend’? Just like White considered Green a friend. And just like Green considered White a friend.

Green might have considered Grey a friend once - or at least not thought of him as a monster … He still didn’t think of Grey as a monster, even with how much he wanted to.

_ Y - Yellow … is - is … dead _

Even when he knew what Grey had done.

_ Look me in the eyes, Green _

Even with all the pain he had caused Green.

“Hey, Green, are you okay?” He could hear White say.

Green blinked, causing the last bits of his thought to fade away.

“You’re my best friend as well”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I'm pretty much done with this story (I only need to format it, or whatever it's called, and then put in any curse words I haven't yet), I'll begin making another story, probably one in the same 'universe'. I'll not post it until all chapters are done, though (I had actually wanted to post the chapters as I made them with this story, but suddenly I was done with it, and now I believe that finishing the story so you can have a consistent update schedule is a great idea.), and I just hope people won't get mad at me.


	13. Chapter thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost can't believe I wrote a 30000 word story about among us. I can't believe I immediately began working on another one.  
> Anyway, I hope this chapter isn't horribly bad. I still can't convince myself this story isn't bad.  
> And I really appreciate your comments (I'm sorry for repeating it so much ... I just feel like I have to say it. Sorry.).

It had been a long day, and Green almost hadn’t been able to wait for when the lights finally turned off, even though he wouldn’t notice. It would, however, mean that he had time to think, no crewmates talking. Of course Black was still in the room, sleeping. She was going to sleep in the same room as Green until the missions end, in case something happened, he could wake her up.

Not that he thought he would be able to. Black was a heavy sleeper it seemed. He had accidentally knocked the makeshift table over, causing a lot of noise, yet she hadn’t stirred.

Green slowly let his gaze glide through the room. Despite Black’s claims of it being trashed, it looked nice. It had become familiar to Green, since he had to stay here pretty much all the time, not even going out during dinner, breakfast or lunch. Instead, White would come with his food and eat with him. It was nice, not having to eat with so many other people, instead only his friends being with him.

_I would never harm a friend_

friend…

What did it really mean?  
Someone you had fun with? Someone you had something in common with? Someone you trusted?

Green trusted White. He trusted Black. He knew they weren’t Grey.

_But you have no proof_

But would they trust him?

Of course, Black had said they knew he wasn’t the impostor. How ironic. They wouldn’t trust him if they knew the truth…

He tried to push the thoughts away. That wasn’t what he wanted to think of.

Yet, it was as if pushing them away made them try harder to get inside his head again, like a spring that kept going back as soon as you stopped applying force on it.

Green pulled the blanket above his head, as if that would help him sleep. He needed to, even with how hard it was. Just had to get used to being unable to see the dark.

Get used to … would he be able to ‘get used to’ being an impostor? He had pretty much accepted it at this point - it was as if he knew he should be scared, knew he should be afraid, knew he should not just keep it to himself … and yet, all he could do was to go on like normal, as if everything was okay. He wanted to go wake up Black and tell her - tell her everything he knew. Tell her he needed her help. Tell her he was an impostor. Yet he couldn’t. He had even gone over to Black just to hover his hands above her, unable to shake her or what you were supposed to do to wake sleeping people.

But most of all, he wanted to find Grey … to demand him to explain himself. To tell him why he had done this to him -

Green’s thoughts were stopped by the sound of … metal clinking against metal? No, it couldn’t be, right? Everyone was locked in their rooms, and no machines with moving parts were in the medbay.

No, he had probably just imagi-

His thoughts were once again cut off by the sound.

Green slowly removed the blanket from his head, pulling it away so he could see. He wished he hadn’t … standing there next to his bed was - was -

“G-Grey?” Green stammered, eyes wide open as he stared at the impostor standing before him, as if his thoughts had summoned him to his side.

“Oh, hello Green, it’s so nice to finally meet you again … you have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” Grey said, smiling, as he moved closer to the bed before finally pulling himself onto it. Green could only stare as Grey positioned himself next to Green’s legs, trying to get comfortable as if he intended to sit there for a long time.

“Wh - what are - what are you doing h-here?” Green asked him. This caused Grey to turn his head towards Green and look him directly in the eyes.

_Open your eyes_

His was the same Green had become all too familiar with - flame-colored eyes with vertical slits.

“Oh, I just wanted to see my friend … anything wrong with that?” He said as if this was normal. Green tried to look away, but found that he couldn’t … it was as if he was having eye contact with Grey would ensure that he wasn’t going to do something. Like, attacking him.

_I would never harm a friend_

But why would Grey do that? Hadn’t he just said he considered Green a friend? Did he really mean it? And why did he do this, taking this risk just to see Green.

“B - but … you’re - you’re an impostor.” Green managed to say. He instantly regretted saying it, especially as Grey’s smile faded, making way for a frown.

“You see that as a hindrance? Is that all you see me as?” He asked, now getting visibly angry. Green tried to back away as much as you could while half-sitting, half-lying.

“N - no, no, of - of course not!” Green tried to do his best to prevent his voice from shaking “I - I”  
“Shhh, it’s okay, Green. Besides, I already found a solution.” Grey’s smile returned as he said the words. Almost before he had uttered the words, they made Green’s stomach churn as he realized what he meant with them.

_Are we really so different, you and I_

He quickly let his gaze go to Black. She was still sleeping, their conversation hadn’t caused her to wake up.

“Don’t worry about her - I don’t think she’s gonna wake up. And even if she does, she can’t see in the dark like we can.” Grey tried to reassure him.

_Like we can_

Grey crawled down from the bed, standing up next to Green. He held out something in a clenched fist, which he opened so Green could see it. It was a bent card, which slowly unfolded, revealing itself to be from one of Black’s games.

Green slowly stretched his arm, accepting Grey’s … gift.

‘Impostor’

“Don’t worry, Green, I’ll always be your friend.” Grey assured Green with a wide grin as he got closer to him, getting hold of the blanket that Green had begun clutching. With the other hand, he removed Green’s hands from the covering. All Green could do was to stare at Grey as he invaded his personal space. He then proceeded to push Green down so he was lying down in the bed. 

After that, Grey pulled the blanket up so it covered everything but Green’s head, as if he was a child being tucked in.

“Just go to sleep, Green. Close your eyes and dream of the times to come.” Grey whispered as he let his hand glide across the terrified Green’s eyes, closing them in the same way one would do to a recently deceased person.

Immediately after, Green opened his eyes, not to Grey, but to the shining lamps of medbay. On the edge of his vision, he could see Black walking around, White next to her. They were talking about something, apparently discussing something about Green. He tried to not focus on them. He didn’t want to hear what they said about him.

“Oh, you’re awake.” White exclaimed as she noticed Green wasn’t asleep anymore. She left Black and came over to Green, settling down next to him on his bed.

Just like Grey had done.

Had it been real? Had Grey actually visited him that night? It felt like it had just been a blink of an eye, Grey there, then gone, night replaced by day. So real, yet the opposite at the same time.

“Are you okay?” White asked him. Had he done something wrong?

“Why - why do you ask?” He asked her.

She seemed a little uneasy as she answered him “It’s just that you seemed to zone out.”

“I - I did?” Green hadn’t even noticed.

“Yes …” White said “Is something wrong?”

“I - I don’t know … I guess - It’s just that …”

“Just what?” White pressed on.

“It’s … I keep thinking about …” Green tried to get the words out. Should he tell? Would she even believe him?

“I - I guess I’m just - worried …” Green finally decided to say.

“You shouldn’t be worried, Green.” Black said from her place at the computer “Red told me there’s only a few days' travel to the colony we’re going to.” She added.

“Yes, and then we’ll all scan the whole crew.” White said, smiling.

“T - the whole - all of the c - crew?” Green asked. White and Black didn’t seem to notice his sudden nervousness. The whole crew! If they scanned him, Green was sure he would get a free one-way ticket to whatever method of impostor disposal the colony had. He almost shuddered, but tried not to show it.

“And then we’ll find the impostor, whoever they are.” Black said matter-of-factly as she sorted some of her medical equipment.

“What … what if it’s … what if it’s someone … someone we -” Green almost couldn’t get the words out. It was as if he had to force them out of his mouth.

“You shouldn’t think about that, Green.” White said, apparently having guessed what he was going to say.

They sat in silence, none of them daring to break it. Just being with White was nice.

“It’s him, I know it’s him!” Green could hear Blue say from outside the medbay “And why do you know it’s him?” Purple asked him. Green could hear their voices growing louder, so they were probably going towards the medbay.

“Purple, both of us were in the reactor when Yellow died! And the rest of the crew was on the other side of the ship. There’s no way anyone other than Green could have killed Yellow!”

“You sure? Those impostors can be really good at slipping away unnoticed…”

“Purple, would you please listen to me! I’m way more experienced than you!”

“If you say so …” Purple said. Green could even hear him sigh. Their steps faded away as they drew away from the medbay. He wished he hadn’t gained super-good hearing. Being able to follow all conversations wasn’t exactly fun, and it was hard ignoring every single one of them.

“Now you’re doing it again!” White said as she touched him lightly on the shoulder.

“Doing what?” Green asked puzzled.

“Zoning out. You just start staring into the air.” White explained.

“Oh … I - I was just … just thinking about stuff.” Green tried to sound convincing.

“You’re thinking a lot then.” White teased as she jumped off Green’s bed.

Green could only agree with White, but he didn’t say a thing.

If she knew…

If…

Green pulled the blanket away and jumped out of the bed to follow White, causing the small piece of cardboard that had been lying in Green’s bed to fall down and slip into the cracks of the vent, never to be seen again.


	14. Chapter fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paranoia can turn even the best crewmates into monsters themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like everyone is gonna be disappointed.

“I’m telling you, it’s him! Everyone else was accounted for when it happened!” Green could hear Blue yell. Halfway through the day, Blue had pressed the emergency button and called everyone around for an emergency meeting, where he had tried to convince everyone that it was Green who was the impostor. Green, of course, hadn’t been allowed to participate in the meeting. Black, had been concerned that if the discussion was about impostors or Yellow’s death, then Green would cause his trauma to become worse. She hadn’t actually told him why he wasn’t allowed to take part in the meeting. Green hadn’t asked. Didn’t need to ask when he could practically hear everything in a 50 meters radius. Even with both doors sealed shut, he could hear the rest of the crew discuss from the place he sat on his bed.

“But Blue, when the ship was sabotaged, Green was in the medbay being observed by both me and Red. He couldn’t have done it.” Black countered.

“Yeah, that’s what you believe. You have no idea how sneaky those freaks can be. If you were as experienced as me, you’d see right through those lies …” Blue claimed.

He could hear Black sigh as Red answered him “Blue, this is ridiculous. If there’s one person we know is not the impostor, it is Green.” Red’s statement was followed by the sound of Blue slamming his hand into the table.

“Idiots! You’re all morons! You have no idea what you’re dealing with here!”

“Calm down, Blue. If both Red and Black claims Green is innocent, then maybe we should believe them?” Purple said calmly.

“Oh, so now you’re also defending Green? Of all people in here, I thought you would at least be able to see the truth!” Blue chided Purple “Can’t you see I’m just trying to protect you?!” He shouted to the assembled crew. Shortly after, Green could hear steps rushing past the medbays door, continuing to the left engine. Purple quickly apologized for Blue, then ran after him. After that, there was the sound of many, but slower, steps, as the rest of the crew went back to their rooms with their companions, or ‘buddies’ as some called them.

The medbays doors slid open and Black and White entered, the two of them looked drained from the meeting. They both quietly found a place to sit where they could rest their heads after having had to listen to Blue’s yelling.

“I sure hope we arrive at the colony very soon. The paranoia’s gotten to Blue’s head.” Black muttered.

“Yeah … he’s completely out of reach …” White replied.

“You’re not going to ask what the meeting was about?” Black asked, her focus now on Green.

“N - no?” Was all he could say. It wasn’t like he could reveal that he had actually heard the whole meeting without also revealing that his hearing was … slightly out of the ordinary.

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t that important.” White reassured him. Green just played along, acting like he hadn’t heard the meeting.

“Want a ration bar?” White offered him “I got some on the way back.”

Green didn’t even get time to answer before White jumped off the bed she had been sitting on and came over to him, offering him the food. He took the bar, beginning to unpack it as White got onto the bed and positioned herself next to him as they ate their meal.

“You don’t understand! If I don’t do anything now, he’ll kill all of us!” Green could hear Blue say. He quickly glanced around the room, trying to find the source of the sound.

“What is it, Green?” White asked.

“Nothing … just thought I heard something.” Green said sheepishly. White didn’t look like she believed him, but didn’t question him further.

“But, Blue, you have no proof it’s him …” Purple said. This time Green could hear that the sound was coming behind him. He turned to look at the direction of the sound, which was where the vent was. The vent … it had to be connected directly with the security room for him to hear it. And they had to talk loudly.

“Another sound?” White questioned “Just … thought I heard something.” Green quickly answered. White didn’t look convinced, yet she still didn’t question him further.

“Blue, you’re irrational … both Black and Red said it can’t be - hey, don’t do that! Blue, let me out! You’re making a mistake!” Purple yelled. The sound of hands banging on a door could be heard. Shortly after, steps could be heard outside the medbay as someone approached.

“Green, take it easy - deep breaths.” He could hear White say next to him. He hadn’t noticed, but his heart was beating quicker and his breathing had become slightly faster as well. “We - we need to get out of here!” Green said and jumped off the bed, White trying to hold him back. He tried to break free from her hold of him. Whatever Blue had meant, it probably wasn't in Green's interest.

“Green, stop, you’re not fit for walking right now!” Black said from her place at the computer.

But it was too late.

The door opened, and outside the medbay was Blue, knife in hand as he stepped inside the room.

“Blue, what are you doing?!” White asked shocked as she noticed the blue-suited crewmate.

“Blue, put that knife down and leave this room!” Black commanded. Blue didn’t budge as he stepped forward, pointing the knife directly at Green. “You may have fooled the rest, but you’re not fooling me!” Blue snickered as he advanced on Green.

“Blue, leave this room immediately!” Black said.

“Not until I’ve dealt with our murderer!” Blue retorted, moving closer to Green. Green backed away, his heart beating furiously and his hands sweaty.

“Blue, it’s not Green! You’re being paranoid!” White yelled at Blue.

Blue glared at White for a moment, then continued moving towards Green.

“Blue, stop right there!” Came Purple’s voice from behind Blue. He wasn’t carrying any weapon, his right arm stretched out with a flat palm as a sign for Blue to stop. Blue turned around to face Purple.

“Don’t try to stop me, Purple. I know it’s him, and I will prove it!” With that, Blue turned back to face Green and walked towards him, clutching his knife. Green could only back away as Blue approached him. Was Blue really going to attack him?

Suddenly Purple ran forward and janked Blue backwards, causing Blue to bump into Purple as they both fell on the floor.

“Purple, you moron! I’m trying to save us!” He yelled. Purple’s answer was to punch him in his face, which was luckily covered by his helmet. Blue stumbled away, cracks on his visor, showing that Purple’s punch had hit him with an enormous force.

“Stay away from him, Blue!” Purple shouted as he rose to his feet.

“If I have to deal with you first, so be it!” Blue said, anger soaking his voice, then lunged at Purple, slashing at him with his knife. Purple tried to dodge, but his suit was hit, the knife slicing through the fabric of the suit.

Purple backed away and clutched the area where the knife had hit, as if the knife had penetrated more than the suit.

“Back away, or …” Blue suddenly cut off himself as he stared at Purple. Everyone in the room turned their attention to Purple, or more specifically, where the knife had hit. Along the slit, Blood was dripping out. But that wasn’t what caused everyone to gasp. The blood wasn’t red … It was as black as ink, flooding out of what should have been a cut in the suit. “You … you’re the - !” Blue stammered.

Green could only stare in surprise and horror as Purple’s suit began shifting, transforming. “I guess there’s no need to deny it anymore” Purple - or rather Grey - said. The color drained from the purple suit, and what had been arms morphed into long tentacles.

Blue tried to threaten Grey with his knife, pointing it towards the impostor, but he didn’t seem to care. With a swift swipe from one of his tentacles, he knocked it out of Blue’s hand, causing it to skirt along the floor, landing next to the medbays doors.

“Stay away!” Blue whimpered, almost pressing himself up against the medbay’s wall. Green looked around. White was shaking uncontrollably, while Black was half-hiding behind one of the medbays beds. Grey took a threatening step towards Blue, his tentacles flailing around.

“If you had just listened to me, Blue, then I wouldn’t have to do this!” Grey said while looming above the frightened crewmate.

He was going to kill Blue! And no one would be able to stop him! Even with what Blue had tried to do, he didn’t deserve to die. Someone had to do something!

“Stop, Grey!” To everyone’s surprise, even his own, Green took a step forward “You - you’re not going to hurt Blue.”

Grey’s turned around and looked directly at Green. “What do you mean?” Grey sounded bewildered at Green’s sudden statement.

“I’m - I’m not going to let you hurt him.” He said, trying his best to not show how much he was trembling.

Green could see Black in the corner of his eye. She was shocked, looking completely baffled at Green’s sudden words. Blue just stared at Grey in fear.

Grey turned his attention back at the Blue-suited man, his stomach split open to reveal rows of jagged teeth.

“Don’t worry. Once he’s gone, we’re gonna be safe, Green. We can deal with Black and White another way.” Grey said in a snarky tone as he prepared to end Blue’s life.

“G - Grey … I’m not going to - to let you kill Blue.” Green repeated, even though his voice was shaking and his heart was beating furiously.

“So you think he’s worth saving? He wanted to kill you, just because he was suspicious of you! I tried time after time to stop him in a peaceful manner, but that just wasn’t possible! And now it’s too late. It’s either him or us!” Grey snarled. Green could see Grey’s muscles rippling beneath his ‘skin’ as he prepared to finish off Blue.

He really was going to kill Blue.

Without thinking, almost instinctively, Green jumped towards Grey, slamming into him with enough force to carry him off his legs. Green could hear White scream as he and Grey tumbled to the ground.

“What are you doing?! He’s our enemy, not me!” Grey shrieked as he tried to shake off Green.

Green wanted to say something, but he was already out of breath. He just growled as he wrapped a tentacle around one of Grey’s. _a tentacle_. Green’s entire body had begun shifting, showing more of his monstrous features. He didn’t have time to think about it, as Grey immediately began fighting back.

Behind him, he could hear the shocked gasps from everyone else in the room, but he didn’t pay attention to them.

_No need to deny it anymore_

Green could feel Grey tugging at multiple of his new limbs, trying to confine his movement. Pain shot up through his body as Grey’s tendrils began tearing his apart, with inky black blood spraying out across the room as the two creatures fought.

“I thought you were my friend!” Grey yelled as the mouth on his stomach opened, revealing a gigantic tongue. Green narrowly dodged the sharp appendage as it embedded itself in the floor, leaving a dent the size of a hand.

He only just had time to dodge another limb as Grey once again attempted to stab him.

“I can’t believe you would betray me!” Grey yelled, anger in his eyes as he got a good grip on Green. Even as Green did everything to break free, Grey simply was stronger.

He would die. Green knew it, there was no way he would survive. This time, Grey wouldn't let him live. And then Grey would kill everyone on the ship …

Suddenly Grey began screaming, all of his tentacles recoiling, leaving Green free to scramble away from the grey impostor. Green could see a syringe sticking out of one of his tentacles, it’s plunger pushed completely down. Grey kept screaming, his whole body starting to convulse. Next to him sat Black, a look of fear on her face as she watched the impostor’s spasms getting weaker. Green just looked in horror at the impostor as he slowly died from whatever Black had injected into him.

As Grey’s screams subsided and his spasms finally stopped, Green could finally see the aftermath of his and Grey’s fight. Black blood was everywhere, not a single wall or thing without a splatter of inky liquid. Some of the clothes Green had had on was lying on the floor, all of it shredded to pieces. Around the room were bits of flesh, most dyed black by the blood, though some had clean spots of green on them. Black was trembling next to the dead impostor, her eyes staring into nothingness. White was looking at Green with horror, her mouth wide open as if she was about to scream. Blue, on the other hand, was looking at Green with awe, not the horror or disgust he would have expected.

Outside the medbay, he could hear Red ordering someone to open the cafeteria’s door. Had Grey somehow trapped them in there while all of this had happened? He couldn’t think about it, the pain taking up most of his mind.

_It hurts so much_

Green could feel a throbbing pain throughout his whole body. The newly formed tentacles that had replaced his arms hurt the most, with lumps of flesh missing, the tip of a few of them gone. Alongside that, some parts of his body had taken on a color that matched his name. He was glad at least some of his clothes had remained on, even though it probably was the least of his problems.

Suddenly the sound of doors opening could be heard, with Red, Cyan and Orange entering the room a few seconds after. The rest of the crew had placed themselves just outside the room.

All of them had their eyes on Green who was slumped against the wall, and Green instinctively pulled his tentacles up as a shield against the prying eyes.

“What the - what happened here?” Red asked, stunned at the sight of the dead impostor, and the very much alive one sitting up against the wall.

“Green saved me.” Everyone’s attention snapped to the source of the sound. And that source was none other than Blue. He was pointing towards Green as he spoke.

“He freaking saved me, even after I had tried to kill him!”

Red looked from the corpse on the floor to Green “You’re an impostor?” was all Red seemed to be able to say.

Green looked at his tentacles, then looked back at Red. “A - apparently”

There was silence for a moment before Red was finally able to say anything.

“I think we need a meeting, right now!” Red stated.


	15. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank everyone who's been reading this story. It's been great waking up and then reading comments before posting a new chapter.  
> For some reason, I don't feel nervous about posting this chapter. It's nice not feeling like that for once, but at the same time, I know this will be the last chapter I post for this story.

As the shuttle ascended through the atmosphere, White gripped her chair. Even with how many missions she had been on, she never got used to how bumpy and unpleasant it was to use the small shuttles to enter the ships.

“Is this your first mission?” the person next to her, Cyan asked. She turned her head to face him as she smiled “No, this is my 51st”. Cyan’s expression immediately turned to awe, as he heard her answer “51?!” he asked “Are you serious?”

“Most people don’t believe me when I say it, but it’s true.” White said.

“But … wow -” was Cyan’s only response.

Cyan was silent for some time as the shuttle continued to their destination.

“How come you survived for so long?” he suddenly asked.

“You don’t think it’s possible?” White countered. Cyan immediately looked away as if he had been scolded by a captain.

“It’s just … It doesn’t sound like it. Isn’t it like, super rare for people to be on more than 15 missions?”

“Indeed it is. But it happens for some people, whether it be skill or luck that enables them to live on.” White simply said.

Cyan began fiddling with his hands. “but … why haven’t you retired? Gotten a survivors medal or something?”

“I didn’t want one.”

“You didn’t want one?”

“No.”

Cyan was starting to look bewildered as White answered his questions.

“But … why?” Was all he could say.

_As Green sat in shackles, explaining the bizarre story of why he thought he had become an impostor, White could only cry. Most of the other crew was looking at Green with disgust. The red eyes probably didn’t help, but at least he had gotten his suit on, so they couldn’t see the tentacles anymore. Green … White’s best friend - an impostor. Now there was no chance of them embarking on other missions together. They would eject him, she knew it. There was no chance they would let him live with how dangerous he had become. Some of them didn’t even believe it was actually Green._

“On my first mission, my best friend was killed by an impostor.” White replied.

“Oh … I’m sorry” Cyan said.

“There’s no need to be sorry. I have moved on since then. But it was what made me continue, in the hopes of saving other people, I guess.” White explained.

_“But he saved me!” blue said, trying to convince the rest of the crew. “He saved me from Purple!”_

_Blue had surprisingly been in favor of keeping Green, doing everything he could to keep him on the ship._

_“It doesn’t matter, Blue. As long as a single person does not want Green to stay here, he can’t.” Red said sternly._

_“And what can they do about it?” Blue retorted._

_“If just one of us says that we protected an impostor, I wouldn’t doubt all of us would end up in jail for the rest of our lives. That, Blue, is why Green has to be ejected.” Red said._

_Blue looked across the table. The crew had essentially split up in two: those that wanted to keep Green, and those who just wanted to get rid of him._

_White was grateful to those who supported Green, though they were way too few. Only Red, Blue, Black and herself had wanted Green to stay. Green himself had stated that he wouldn’t be in favor of either outcome. It was as if he was broken with grief, his voice cracking whenever he tried to speak._

_“Please! Let Green stay!” White begged the rest of the crew, but they all just looked at her with pity._

_“I’m sorry White - I don’t think we can keep Green.”_

“Are you already making new friends?” Blue asked. He was seated next to White. “None as good as you.” She said as she smiled at him.

“You two know each other?” Cyan asked.

“We met on White’s first mission. My fifth. So this is my 55th mission.” Blue replied.

Cyan was completely in awe of what Blue told him.

“What about you?” he asked the lighter shade of blue.

“It’s my third…”

_“Before you eject Green … can me and White have a last moment with him?” Blue asked. They had discussed for a long time, but ultimately Green wasn’t able to live. Impostors just didn’t mesh well with MIRA, and the risk of them finding out was too high, especially when only half the crew trusted him._

_“Of course … everyone else, leave some room for them.” Red announced. The rest of the crew filed out of the cafeteria, leaving only White, Blue and Green._

_“I appreciate your efforts in saving me … but just let me go - it’s not worth the risk.” Green said with a raspy voice._

_“But Green…” White cried. Green moved towards White and embraced her in a tender hug. He then separated from the White crewmate._

_“I guess this is goodbye …” White whimpered._

_He approached Blue and laid a hand on his shoulder._

_“You - you only tried to do what you thought was the right thing to do. Just know that I don’t blame you for what happened.”_

_“I’m sorry, Green. It’s my fault … it really is” Blue said. “If I had kept an eye on Purple, none of this would have happened.”_

_Green was about to say something, but was interrupted by Blue._

_“I’m sorry, Green, for the things I did … and … I have something - a request for you.”_

_Green looked at Blue, puzzled._

“Don’t you worry about that. If you need any help, me and White should be able to.” Blue told him.

“Aren’t veterans supposed to be wary of other crewmates?” Cyan asked.

“We’re not normal veterans” White replied “Not with what we’ve been through …” She almost whispered the last part.

_“Are you sure you want to do this?” The blue-clad crewmate asked._

_The green one looked at him with a few tears in his eyes. “I already told you - I have thought this through” He half-laughed._

_“But … it wasn’t your fault - you shouldn’t be the one getting ejected!” the blue one protested._

_“Don’t worry about me. You two will get a great time together” He forced a smile as he continued “It won’t be a long time before you forget me.”_

_“I don’t think I’ll ever forget this …” the brightest of the bunch, White, said “It’s more than anyone could ever ask for.”_

_“You - you don’t have to do this! Not for me…” Blue said._

_“Don’t think I’m doing this for you” He grinned “I’m doing this for White.”_

_White’s response was just to let out more sobs as tears ran down her face “Oh, don’t cry … this is a happy ending. The two friends survived while the impostor was ejected into space.” Green said, laughing a bit again as he stepped into the airlock._

_“Are you sure this is what you want?” White asked as she held her hand on the lever that would open the airlock, sucking out the crewmate inside._

_“I’ve never been more sure” he said._

“I was saved by him …” Blue said.

“Who?” Cyan asked.

“Green” Blue hastily said.

“He was my best friend on my first mission.” White clarified.

“He sacrificed his life so that I could live…” Blue said in a low voice, as if he was thinking of something that happened so very long ago...

_White and Blue watched as the green-suited crewmate drifted away, slowly becoming smaller and smaller._

_“I’ll never forget what he did for me…” Blue said as Green drifted further away, his smiling face becoming unrecognizable._

_As the rest of the crew reentered the cafeteria moments later, they all looked in shock at the man who was now a green dot among hundreds of white dots on a black canvas._

_“You ejected him before we came back?!” Red asked, clearly saddened by the loss of the impostor._

_“I didn’t even get to say goodbye …” Black muttered._

_“It was his last wish” White said as she and Blue left the cafeteria, hand in hand._

_They both let tears fall as they went, saddened by the loss of their friend._

_“Bye Blue …“ White whispered, so low that only Blue’s inhuman hearing could pick up the words._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was it.  
> I hope you liked this story.  
> Before you leave, I have some things to say.  
> 1\. I've made another story I will begin posting now. One chapter a day, just like this one until it's finished. (it's name is 'The hunt is on')  
> 2\. I've begun making another story in the same 'universe'. I have no idea when I will be done though. Won't post any chapters before I'm done with it.  
> 3\. I've made a discord server, which you can join. If some of you join, we can talk about, I don't know, maybe Among Us stories. (Correction: you can talk about stuff, I'll be on the sideline being nervous)  
> https://discord.gg/uzM6zyS5dW  
> 4\. Thanks to all of you who commented, I really appreciate it. A lot.

**Author's Note:**

> Please point out any mistakes I have made ...


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